Raids….arrests in the villages of Esawyeh and Silwan
The Israeli authorities along with occupation forces continued their tax campaign in the villages of Esawyeh and Silwan. On Thursday night, a child was moderately injured with a rubber bullet in his stomach in the neighborhood of Al-Thori in Silwan while the occupation forces arrested four children and one young man from the village of Esawyeh. Esawyeh Mohammad Abu Hummos, member of follow-up committee in the village of Esawyeh, explained that the occupation forces along with municipality crews, tax property employees, social security and collection agencies raided commercial establishments and houses in the village and checked the files of many locals. Abu Hummos added that the occupation authorities targeted young men during Thursday’s campaign and checked their files for unpaid debts to the social security department. He said that such action only aims at harassing young men. He also said that the occupation forces raided houses and searched and damaged their contents. Among the houses affected were the houses of Alayan, Abu Hummos, Mustafa, Darwish and Obeid family houses. They also raided commercial establishments and checked their files and permits. The forces also arrested Ahmad Darwish and four children from Abu Rayyaleh neighborhood in the village including the 14-year old Mohammad Thaer Atyeh. Silwan In Silwan, most commercial stores were forced to close down because of the tax authority’s harassment resulting into verbal altercations between merchants and occupation forces; the forces fired a sound grenade towards them to keep them away from the area. The forces targeted the neighborhoods of Ein Al-Lozeh and Bi’er Ayoub in Silwan and established checkpoints in Silwan at night time and searched vehicles and passers-by and issued tickets. Infantry units raided the neighborhoods of Bi’er Ayoub and Batn Al-Hawa and ascended the roofs of several houses and also fired sound grenades and rubber bullets for no reason. The forces also forces the merchants in Ein Al-Lozeh and Bi’er Ayoub to shut down their stores and threatened to issue a 6-thousand NIS fine for those who don’t abide. The settlers’ guards chased a group of children in the neighborhood of Ein Al-Lozeh in an attempt to arrest them under the pretext of throwing firecrackers towards them. Occupation soldiers in Al-Thori targeted a child and injured him with a rubber bullet in his stomach. On Thursday, the forces also stopped a Palestinian Red Crescent ambulance and checked the ID of one staff member and also searched the ambulance. The forces also arrested on Thursday Haron Burqan from the neighborhood of Al-Thori after raiding the surrounding of his house under the pretext of looking for “Goldfinch” birds.
