At about 2.30am in the morning of December 30th, villagers of Kufr ‘Ein , who live near to the mosque, were awakened by sound bombs and the sound of live shots being fired into the air. At this moment there was no electricity in the village. Israeli Occupation Force (IOF) soldiers were walking through the village, which lies south-west of Salfit. The army then shouted instructions in Arabic, through a loudspeaker, “Stop or you will be shot”.
According to one eyewitness, they heard hard knocks on a front door at 3.30 in the morning. Before the owner could even respond, the Israeli army said they would give him and his family two minutes to come out of the house, and if he did not they would demolish his home. They asked him for ‘wanted’ persons and threatened to damage his house if he did not tell them where they are. The man told the soldiers that they can do whatever they want because there is no ‘wanted’ person in his house, only his family. The Israeli commander hit him hard with his hand and the man fell to the ground. This man is about 50-years old with a heart condition. After the soldiers asked the same question and received the same answer, he was hit again and fell to the ground again. At this stage his wife intervened and asked the soldiers why they hit her husband as the person they wanted is in their jails. The soldier told her to shut up and that they would hit her like her husband if she did not go and sit down far from the house. The soldiers continued to search their house for another two hours while the whole family stood outside. There were about 100 soldiers at the time in the village and they searched 7 to 8 houses in the same manner.
The villagers who were awakened and forced outside, saw the soldiers surround an unused house. They had found a young man of 21 who had apparently been a ‘wanted’ person by the Israeli army for more than three years. He was forced out and was instructed to take off his clothes on this very cold morning, was hit with guns and kicked until about 14 to 15 jeeps arrived. He was then put in a jeep and taken away. Later on when the army had left, some of his bloodstained clothes were found on the spot where he was assaulted. With reinforcements the army proceeded to invade more houses on the pretext of searching for more people till 6.30am, when a woman shouted at them that this was the morning of the Eid-al-Adha. The commander shouted back that they would leave when the Eid started. The army left the village just after 6:30am
Up to now no-one knows where the arrested young man has been taken. The Red Crescent and The Prisoner’s Club has been contacted to look for him.
At about 10.15 am on Friday 12th January the IOF invaded the village of Kufr ‘Ein again, with dogs and jeeps.
According to one eyewitness, soldiers entered the village in about twelve jeeps, forced their way into one home and destroyed a lot of furniture and belongings of the family. They arrested a farmer whose brother was also arrested during an army raid in June 2006, and is still in prison. The arrested man’s family has had no contact with him as yet.
This village reported several prior incursions.