21st March 2017 | International Solidarity Movement, al-Khalil Team | Hebron, Occupied Palestine
In the early morning of the 21st March a group of Israeli forces carried out ID checks and body searches on young Palestinian men and children on their morning commutes through the souk (old market) of Hebron.
Two ISM activists were walking to a checkpoint to monitor and report on violations of freedom of movement when they encountered large numbers of Israeli soldiers in the souk. Local Palestinians were ordered at gunpoint to throw their ID cards on the ground for inspection, and many were subjected to body searches and made to sit in the road. One boy was ordered to remove his shoes and toss them towards the soldiers before being made to sit on the cold ground for over fifteen minutes.
Cars were also stopped, delayed, or diverted. One Palestinian shop owner was forced to leave his van whilst he and it were both searched by Israeli forces.
The incursion lasted for over an hour before the Israeli forces returned through the gate which leads to the military base, having searched over fifteen Palestinians and delayed many more. Incursions such as this highlight the restrictions on freedom of movement faced by Palestinians in Hebron and across the West Bank every day.
