Tag: Shufa

Endless Israeli military campaigns in Tulkarem

By. Diana Khwaelid

Tulkarm – 5-10-2023

A rapid military operation carried out by the Israeli occupation forces in Tulkarem camp at dawn today, around 5 a.m. Dozens of Israeli military vehicles stormed Tulkarem camp in the centre of the city, in the northern West Bank.

Strong confrontations and clashes broke out between Palestinian militants who tried to confront the occupation forces and defend the camp. Between the Israeli occupying forces, it lasted almost two hours.

At the same time, the occupation forces stormed the city of Nablus, in particular the Balata camp, to secure the way for settlers to reach the Tomb of the Prophet Joseph near the camp, to perform Talmudic prayer ahead of the occasion of Jewish Throne Day. Three youths were injured by live bullets, another was injured while trying to escape. Dozens of youths suffered from tear gas inhalation.

Eyewitnesses from the camp said that they noticed the presence of Israeli special forces from the Al-Yamam battalion, so alarm sirens were activated in the camp later and armed confrontations broke out between the two parties. It lasted about 15 minutes, during which explosive bombs were thrown, and one of the occupation soldiers was shot in the head, according to eyewitnesses.

The Israeli occupation forces stormed the family home of the hunted young man (Amir Balawneh) and arrested his father (Saad Mahmoud Balawneh), 45 years old. As a means of pressure for his son to surrender to the Israeli occupation forces. On the morning of 5th September the Israeli occupation forces arrested the freed prisoner Ahmed Abu Khadra (35) from Tulkarem while he was passing through one of the military checkpoints.

Israeli media sources confirmed that the Tulkarm Battalion mounted a rapid response in the camp, and emphasized the continuous resistance to the occupation in defence of the camp. The continued resistance pays tribute to its martyrs, who were killed in an assassination carried out by the occupation forces near the village of Shufa southeast of the city.

There were injuries and deaths in the ranks of the Israeli army during its storming of the Tulkarm camp at dawn on the 5th October.

Weaponry recovered from Occupation forces in Tulkarem
Weaponry recovered from Occupation forces in Tulkarem

Approximately at 7: 15 a.m. today – after the Israeli occupation forces withdrew from the camp, with heavy material and human losses – local and Israeli media broadcast news about the assassination of two young
Palestinians by the Israeli occupation forces, near the Shufa checkpoint, in Tulkarm. Hebrew language Israeli sources claimed that Palestinian youths had carried out an attack by shooting at an Israeli settler on the 20th August of this year near the illegal settlement of Avni Hefetz.

The Palestinian Ministry of Health and the Palestinian Liaison Directorate confirmed the martyrdom of the two young men – Huthayfa Adnan Fares, (27), and Abdul Rahman Fares Atta (23).

5th September was a sad day of mourning in the city of Tulkarm, its villages and camps, the National Action factions in the city declared public mourning and a strike in honour of the spirit of the martyrs

Ten people from the city of Tulkarem have been martyred by occupying forces since the beginning of the year.

Screenshots have been taken from Quds News Network

Network of road gates tightens its stranglehold on Shufa village

15 January 2010

An earth mound at the entrance to Shufa village

The village of Shufa continues to struggle with restricted road access and no electricity grid connection, as a new road gate is established at the entrance to the village.

Israeli Occupation Forces established a new road gate at the entrance to Shufa village one week ago, enabling the military to restrict or forbid access to the village at any given time, by closing the gates. The gates are effectively – or at times a precursor to – a form of road block. A similar gate was constructed 2 days ago in the neighboring village of Seffarin at the intersection of the village’s road with an Israeli road. The increasing number of road gates in the region contribute to  slowly creeping network of apartheid roads and restriction of movement for Palestinians living in the West Bank.

Shufa village has been split in half and isolated by road blocks and apartheid roads. The lower half of the village is about 8km from the city of Tulkarm but villagers cannot drive up the hill to their neighbours, less than 1km away. Earth mounds and concrete blocks stop vehicle access to the short stretch of ‘settlers only’ road, which used to link the two halves of the village.

The section of the village located on the hill was denied all road access for 6 years. Now there is only one road open, on the opposite side to Tulkarm, so that the villagers must now travel 22km through a checkpoint to get to the city 8km away. The blocked roads have been opened for only 3 and a half days in the last 8 years. Severe travel restrictions and delays have caused at least 3 deaths in the village due to refusal of access to Red Crescent ambulances trying to enter/exit Shufa.

The village is not allowed to connect to nearby power lines, forcing residents to run generators for a few hours a day. The system of road blocks have made the transport of supplies to the village incredibly problematic and expensive. Residents fear that even this may be stopped if the army decides to shut the gate on the open road.

A few hundred metres from the village lies the illegal settlement of Avne Hefez. It was originally built in 1985 on land belonging to Shufa. It has since expanded and spawned an outpost. The villagers now have to apply for permission to farm some of their own land. Even with permits they are often refused or scared off. According to residents of Shufa, many of the houses in the settlement appear to be empty or only used for holidays, or ‘part-time settlers’. A small military base is also located inside the settlement.

US Aid has funded a new school in Shufa, which could have been built with local engineers and labour for half the price, and given the local economy a much-needed boost. The new school comes complete with computers, but no electricity to run them.