HEBRON (Ma’an) -- Israeli troops stormed the town of Sair in the Hebron district of the southern occupied West Bank early Sunday morning, where they ransacked the home of a slain Palestinian and reportedly threatened to detain the deceased man’s 10-month-old daughter. According to witnesses, Israeli troops raided the home of the family of Fadi Faroukh, who was shot and killed on November 1, 2015 in the eastern Hebron village of Beit Einun after he allegedly attempted to stab an Israeli soldier.
Fadi’s brother Saed told Ma’an that Israeli soldiers “destroyed the interior of the house” before they “threatened to detain Fadi’s 10-month-old daughter.”
After ransacking the home and threatening the family, Saed said the soldiers hung a written warning on the front door, addressing the family as well as all residents of Sair.
“In the wake of destructive attacks coming from your area against civilians, the Israeli defense forces and the Israeli security forces will operate with increased effort against terrorists and against anyone involved in such activity,” the warning read.
An Israeli army spokesperson said she was looking into reports of the raid and threats made against the family, and against Fadi’s infant daughter in particular.
Image of letter posted by Israeli soldiers
The Israeli army’s alleged threat of a crackdown on Sair, claiming it as a response to “the wake of destructive attacks” coming from the area, came nearly two months after the last Sair resident was suspected of committing an attack, when an Israeli settler was shot and injured while driving close to the nearby illegal Teqoa settlement.
Sair saw increased aggression by Israeli forces since the attack, as the village was completely sealed in early July, a 22-year-old resident with down syndrome was shot and killed by forces during clashes, and many more were severely injured with live fire during clashes, amid a wider shutdown of the entire Hebron district.
The road and village closures were not uncommon to Hebron, the most populous district in the occupied West Bank, since a wave of unrest swept across the occupied Palestinian territory and Israel in October that has killed 220 Palestinians and some 32 Israelis.
The Hebron area in particular has grown as the epicenter of upheaval, with Israeli authorities severely restricting the movement of Palestinians that amounted to the most extensive lockdown on the occupied West Bank since 2014, disrupting the access of hundreds of thousands of residents to services and livelihoods, according to the UN, who said the measures amount to collective punishment on innocent Palestinians.
In addition to Sair, villages in Hebron which had been completely sealed over the month of July included Yatta, and Bani Naim, with some 2,700 Palestinian residents of Bani Naim having had their travel permits revoked.
Scores of Palestinians were also detained in overnight raids in Hebron, and dozens of others injured during clashes between locals and Israeli forces.
According to the UN, 50 Palestinians, including 14 children, were injured by Israeli forces during clashes in the West Bank between July 5 and 11 -- almost all during detention raids, the largest of which took place in the Hebron village of Dura, which resulted in 38 injuries.
In the same week, Israeli forces conducted 98 search and detention operations and arrested 95 Palestinians, with Hebron accounting for the highest number of operations and arrests.
Israel’s response to attacks -- such as punitive home demolitions, the sealing of entire villages, mass detention campaigns, and withholding the bodies of Palestinians slain while committing attacks -- has been condemned by rights groups, who have said the measures amount to “collective punishment” and “court-sanctioned revenge,” and represent a clear violation of international law.
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