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Israeli Soldiers' Excrement in Cooking Pots: When the IDF Took Over Hundreds of Houses in the West Bank
During Israel's war with Iran, the military occupied some 250 homes and apartments across the West Bank, converting them into makeshift bases and interrogation centers. When soldiers left, residents returned to houses in disarray
-Haaretz-
Uprooted doors, broken cupboards, overturned shelves with their contents scattered across the floor, filthy toilets, broken cisterns, heaps of clothing and mattresses in disarray, and blankets smeared with feces – these are the scenes that greeted the Amouri family when they returned to their home in Balata, the largest refugee camp in the West Bank. They had been forced to leave after Israeli soldiers turned their house into a temporary base.
"I had to run the washing machine for 24 hours straight," said Dalal Amouri, the mother of the family. "I had to throw out some items, they were so filthy. We found meat taken from the freezer and tossed on the floor. The bathroom was so dirty, we couldn't even go inside."
Their house was not the only one. In the last two weeks of June, during Israel's war with Iran, the military occupied over 250 homes and apartments in refugee camps, villages, and some urban neighborhoods throughout the West Bank. At least 1,350 residents reside in these homes. Most were evicted – usually in the middle of the night. In some cases, the military remained in the homes for only a few hours; in most, the occupation lasted anywhere from two to 11 days.
During these periods, soldiers carried out brief raids on nearby houses. Entire villages, or specific neighborhoods within them, were placed under curfew or strict movement restrictions.
Only a few of the occupied homes were vacant. In some instances, families were confined to a single room while armed soldiers guarded the door. More often, the residents were forced to leave altogether, and the military used the homes as bases – and, in many cases, as detention and interrogation centers for dozens of men.
"The soldiers tore strips of cloth from our clothing and used them to blindfold the detainees," said Subhiya Hamadeh, also a resident of Balata. One of her neighbors, who had been detained, told her that he was kept in a restroom with six or seven other people for two or three hours before being interrogated and released.
The Israeli army has long practiced turning homes into military positions, outposts, and sniper stations. But occupying such a large number of homes simultaneously across so many areas of the West Bank is unprecedented. According to a preliminary report from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and information that reached Haaretz, most of the affected homes – around 150 – were in towns and villages in the Jenin district, and some 800 people have had to leave them.
According to that same report, in Hebron, including in the H2 area (under full Israeli control), the IDF occupied at least 25 residential units, andthe rooftop of a school. Some 300 people had been living in those properties.
Dozens of soldiers were stationed in each occupied home. According to testimonies collected by Israeli human rights organization B'Tselem, UN researchers, and Haaretz, families who returned home found their belongings broken, furniture overturned or destroyed, and doors ripped off. Mattresses, towels, and blankets had been used or soiled. Some reported hygiene products and food were consumed or tampered with.
Some families reported that their water supply had been completely drained. Because of Israeli-imposed quotas on water, Palestinian municipalities and companies deliver it to neighborhoods on rotation, and household store it in rooftop tanks. In higher elevations or during summer months, families often have to buy water from trucks at three times the municipal rate. "We didn't find a single drop of water left in the rooftop tanks," said Dalal Amouri
The Amouri i family documented everything upon their return. "We learned from neighbors that when the soldiers left, on the night of June 19, they set fire to their garbage pile just outside our front door," said Ahmed, Dalal's son. "If the civil defense teams [firefighters] hadn't arrived quickly, the whole house would have burned down."
There's a lot more to the article, read it here : https://archive.ph/eKwCD
During Israel's war with Iran, the military occupied some 250 homes and apartments across the West Bank, converting them into makeshift bases and interrogation centers. When soldiers left, residents returned to houses in disarray
-Haaretz-
Uprooted doors, broken cupboards, overturned shelves with their contents scattered across the floor, filthy toilets, broken cisterns, heaps of clothing and mattresses in disarray, and blankets smeared with feces – these are the scenes that greeted the Amouri family when they returned to their home in Balata, the largest refugee camp in the West Bank. They had been forced to leave after Israeli soldiers turned their house into a temporary base.
"I had to run the washing machine for 24 hours straight," said Dalal Amouri, the mother of the family. "I had to throw out some items, they were so filthy. We found meat taken from the freezer and tossed on the floor. The bathroom was so dirty, we couldn't even go inside."
Their house was not the only one. In the last two weeks of June, during Israel's war with Iran, the military occupied over 250 homes and apartments in refugee camps, villages, and some urban neighborhoods throughout the West Bank. At least 1,350 residents reside in these homes. Most were evicted – usually in the middle of the night. In some cases, the military remained in the homes for only a few hours; in most, the occupation lasted anywhere from two to 11 days.
During these periods, soldiers carried out brief raids on nearby houses. Entire villages, or specific neighborhoods within them, were placed under curfew or strict movement restrictions.
Only a few of the occupied homes were vacant. In some instances, families were confined to a single room while armed soldiers guarded the door. More often, the residents were forced to leave altogether, and the military used the homes as bases – and, in many cases, as detention and interrogation centers for dozens of men.
"The soldiers tore strips of cloth from our clothing and used them to blindfold the detainees," said Subhiya Hamadeh, also a resident of Balata. One of her neighbors, who had been detained, told her that he was kept in a restroom with six or seven other people for two or three hours before being interrogated and released.
The Israeli army has long practiced turning homes into military positions, outposts, and sniper stations. But occupying such a large number of homes simultaneously across so many areas of the West Bank is unprecedented. According to a preliminary report from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and information that reached Haaretz, most of the affected homes – around 150 – were in towns and villages in the Jenin district, and some 800 people have had to leave them.
According to that same report, in Hebron, including in the H2 area (under full Israeli control), the IDF occupied at least 25 residential units, andthe rooftop of a school. Some 300 people had been living in those properties.
Dozens of soldiers were stationed in each occupied home. According to testimonies collected by Israeli human rights organization B'Tselem, UN researchers, and Haaretz, families who returned home found their belongings broken, furniture overturned or destroyed, and doors ripped off. Mattresses, towels, and blankets had been used or soiled. Some reported hygiene products and food were consumed or tampered with.
Some families reported that their water supply had been completely drained. Because of Israeli-imposed quotas on water, Palestinian municipalities and companies deliver it to neighborhoods on rotation, and household store it in rooftop tanks. In higher elevations or during summer months, families often have to buy water from trucks at three times the municipal rate. "We didn't find a single drop of water left in the rooftop tanks," said Dalal Amouri
The Amouri i family documented everything upon their return. "We learned from neighbors that when the soldiers left, on the night of June 19, they set fire to their garbage pile just outside our front door," said Ahmed, Dalal's son. "If the civil defense teams [firefighters] hadn't arrived quickly, the whole house would have burned down."
There's a lot more to the article, read it here : https://archive.ph/eKwCD
