[News] Israeli crackdown on Shuafat sparks violence across Jerusalem and West Bank

[Anti-Imperialist News]

middleeasteye.net
<https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israel-palestine-shuafat-crackdown-violence-jerusalem-west-bank>
Israeli crackdown on Shuafat sparks violence across Jerusalem and West Bank
By Shatha Hammad in Ramallah, occupied Palestine - October 13, 2022
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Violent confrontations erupted between Israel
<https://www.middleeasteye.net/countries/israel> and Palestinian
<https://www.middleeasteye.net/countries/palestine> youth in separate parts
of occupied East Jerusalem late on Wednesday, with the most intense
standoff seen in the besieged Shuafat refugee camp.

Flare-ups were also reported across the occupied West Bank, with
confrontations between Palestinians and Israeli troops accompanied by
attacks by Jewish settlers.

In the Shuafat camp, which Israeli troops have locked down for five days
following a deadly shooting at a nearby checkpoint, violence continued
until around 3am.

The confrontations were sparked by Israeli troops storming homes belonging
to the Tamimi family, a member of which is suspected by Israel of killing
an Israeli soldier at the checkpoint on Saturday night. Three Tamimis were
arrested.

Israeli forces fired tear gas inside the homes, with several people inside
suffering injuries from choking.

<https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israel-palestine-jerusalem-shuafat-refugee-camp-under-siege>

Palestine: Jerusalem refugee camp under siege as Israel hunts shooter

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<https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israel-palestine-jerusalem-shuafat-refugee-camp-under-siege>

Muhammad Samrin, a journalist from Shuafat refugee camp, told Middle East
Eye that an Israeli bulldozer advanced from a military checkpoint at 7am
and began to open the roads that the residents had closed as part of their
civil disobedience protest against the camp’s blockade.

Around 140,000 Palestinians live in Shuafat, the only refugee camp within
Jerusalem’s municipal boundary. Though lying close to the Old City, the
camp is separated from the rest of Jerusalem by Israel’s towering
separation wall.

Later on Thursday, Israel partially relieved the closure, which had cut
residents from the outside world and forced them to miss medical
appointments and work, by opening a checkpoint.

Waste collection trucks entered and transported rubbish that had piled up
in the streets since the closure began on Saturday.

Some vehicles were allowed to leave the camp towards Jerusalem after
thorough searches, Samrin said. Meanwhile, the Anata road, which connects
Shuafat camp to the West Bank, was also opened but remained under heavier
restrictions.

Israel believes the shooting suspect is still inside Shuafat camp and will
attempt to reach the West Bank, according to Israeli media.

Despite the partial reopening of the camp’s entrances and exits, residents
of Shuafat said their civil obedience action and protests will continue
until Israeli forces end all restrictive measures against them.

"The occupation army is imposing a policy of collective revenge against the
camp's residents, and this has cost us a lot financially and
psychologically, " Samrin told MEE.

In solidarity with Shuafat camp, fierce confrontations spread to several
Jerusalem neighbourhoods on Wednesday night, including Beit Hanina,
al-Isawiya, Sur Baher, Sheikh Jarrah, Silwan and Jabal al-Mukaber.

In Sur Baher, Palestinian residents reportedly opened fire on Israeli
forces, but no injuries were reported. Two Israeli police officers were
lightly wounded in al-Isawiya, possibly by explosive devices or
firecrackers.

At least 18 Palestinians were arrested across the city.
Settler attacks in the West Bank

Meanwhile, settler attacks escalated on Palestinian villages located near
Israeli settlements across the West Bank.

In the village of Qasra, south of Nablus, settlers attacked poultry farms
and torched three of them, which led to the deaths of 30,000 birds. The
settlers also destroyed olive trees in the area, leading to confrontations
with residents.

'These attacks are very dangerous and all indications suggest that they
will likely become more violent in the coming days'

- *Ghassan Daghlas, Palestinian activist*

At least 15 Palestinians were wounded in a subsequent Israeli crackdown,
during which soldiers fired baton rounds, according to Ghassan Daghlas, a
Palestinian activist monitoring the expansion of Israeli settlements in the
West Bank’s north.

Daghlas said settler attacks this year have been very intense compared to
previous years, with at least 1,000 recorded so far.

"These attacks are very dangerous and all indications suggest that they
will likely become more violent in the coming days,” he told MEE.

On Thursday morning, settlers flanked by soldiers attacked Palestinian
houses in Huwarra town south of Nablus.

Elsewhere in Nablus, gunfights erupted overnight in the vicinity of
Joseph's Tomb after settlers stormed the site under heavy army protection.

The confrontations came after a Nablus-based Palestinian armed group,
called the Lions’ Den, said it would attack soldiers protecting settlers
while they stormed the site, which is holy to both Jews and Muslims.
Growing resistance

Palestinian armed resistance in the West Bank has been growing in recent
months, but military analyst Youssef Sharqawi told MEE that it has a long
way to go before transforming into a fully fledged intifada.

Security coordination between Israel and the Palestinian Authority still
limits fighters’ ability to expand their activities and recruit more people.

"The young Palestinian fighters today are fighting in the spirit of
standing up to the occupation and trying to counter its strategy of
killings, humiliation and controlling Palestinians,” Sharqawi said,

But, he added, as Israeli targets get attacked more frequently, momentum
will build up.

"Each operation is stronger than the previous one. They become infectious
and spread widely, and every time it puts Israel in a more difficult
position."

According to Sharqawi, the West Bank is witnessing only the beginning of a
new era in the conflict, the nature of which is yet to become clear.

"This phenomenon may precede the climax of a future intifada and is
building on recent short-lived uprisings. We are going through a very
important moment, but it may take some time to fully be able to understand
it," he said.
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