Soldiers invade the home at night and keep internationals from entering. Settlers taunt internationals and watch.
by Sunbula
At around 10 pm on Friday August 11th in Tel Rumeida, 12 soldiers of the Israeli Occupation Forces entered an apartment building where 3 Palestinian families live as well as international volunteers with the International Solidarity Movement. The internationals approached the soldiers in order to speak to the families inside, but the soldiers prevented them from entering the house and attempted to close the front door. The soldiers were aggressive and pushed one Austrian man to the floor. A member of the household tried to relay to the internationals that soldiers woke the entire family in the middle of the night, including the elderly and children, ordered them to leave the house, and then destroyed the contents inside.
The soldiers remained inside the house with the family. The Israeli Police arrived at the request of the internationals, and at the same time, a few soldiers left the house. The army told the police that their entrance was a mistake. The Police then declared that the Army had no right to act in such an aggressive manner and if they were searching for something they are forbidden to destroy the house. One Palestinian quoted that the Police told him that the soldiers act as ‘stupid as donkeys’. The Policeman stated that he can only tell them to not be destructive in the search, but he cannot order them not to search houses without a warrant or just cause, since it is their legal right to do so.
The remainder of the soldiers finally retreated at 11:15 pm leaving the house a mess and many broken household items, inlcuding a washing machine. The soldiers then ran up a hill close to some nearby houses and internationals began to follow them in fear they might raid more houses, but stopped when they became worried that their actions would provoke the soldiers.