Intentional Maiming? Israeli Commander Reportedly Threatened to ‘Disable All Youth’ in Palestinian Refugee Camp

Posted on August 26, 2016

by Richard Edmondson

Ma’an News reports today that an Israeli commander has issued an ominous warning to residents of the al-Duheisha camp near Bethlehem, threatening to “make all youth in the camp disabled.”

According to the Palestinian human rights organization BADIL, 18 youths in the camp were shot in the legs in the course of three separate raids that took place in late July through mid-August. The report goes on to state that four other youths from surrounding areas were also shot–in the legs–during the same period…and that since the beginning of 2016, a total of 30 people have been shot with live ammunition, the majority in their legs or knees.

Ma’an reached out for comments from both the Israeli Army and Police over the most recent raid on the camp–said to have occurred in the pre-dawn hours of Friday morning–but both denied knowing anything about it.

Violent clashes in al-Duheisha are common and break out nearly every time Israeli army forces enter the camp, which is located in Area A and should be under full Palestinian Authority control according to the Oslo agreements.

In a response to a request for comment, an Israeli army spokesperson told Ma’an that the Israeli army was not involved, and claimed Israeli border police were behind it, despite the area being located outside of police jurisdiction in Area A of the occupied West Bank.

When contacted by Ma’an, Israeli police spokesperson Micky Rosenfeld said he was not aware of the raid, saying it “made no sense” that police would be involved, and confirmed that al-Duheisha fell under the Israeli army’s jurisdiction in terms of raids. When contacted a second time, an Israeli army spokesperson insisted again that the army was not behind the raid and could not say who had been.

You can access the full article here. The report comes just one day after Israel exonerated itself of wrongdoing in a series of attacks during the 2014 Gaza war including the shelling of a UN-run school.

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