Life in occupied West Bank: Funerals, night raids, and targeting of children

At dawn on October 16, dozens of Israeli soldiers stormed the home of Palestinian photojournalist Moaz Amarneh in the Dheisheh refugee camp, south of Bethlehem, and whisked him away to a detention centre.

This arrest was part of a broad repression enforced by the Israeli army against hundreds of Palestinians in the West Bank, where it has intensified arbitrary detentions since Hamas’s surprise attack inside Israel on October 7.

At least one thousand Palestinians, including former prisoners, Legislative Council members affiliated with the Hamas movement, activists and journalists have been impacted by these draconian military measures.

Israel claims that it comes in response to Hamas’s “Al Aqsa Flood” operation targeting Israeli military posts and the illegal settlements encircling Gaza on October 7.

Dheisheh camp is a place where every other person has a story about the Israeli atrocities to share. Moaz lost his eye in 2019 to an Israeli bullet while he was covering a peaceful protest against the emergence of yet another illegal Jewish settlement in the town of Surif, north of Hebron. The injury has left a profound impact on his health.

Walaa Amarneh, his wife, told TRT World that during the October 16 raid, Israeli soldiers snatched Moaz’s phone and arrested him. Since then, she has lost touch with her husband, whose whereabouts the Israeli army is refusing to share.

After that, they learned from a lawyer that he had been transferred to Megiddo prison and had been severely beaten by soldiers, causing him constant bruises and pain.

His eyeglasses, which helped him see after losing his eye, were broken too.

“Moaz has been suffering from severe pain since 2019 due to his injury. He constantly takes painkillers and needs medication for diabetes, which he developed after the injury, but the soldiers refused to let him take his medication with him,” Walaa added.

Walaa works with J Media Company, which was shut down by the Israeli military soon after Gaza was bombed.

The military raid and the subsequent arrest of Moaz has traumatised his three children who witnessed their father being taken away by the Israeli soldiers with his hands tied behind his back and eyes blindfolded.

“It was a terrible night. I don’t know why he was arrested, why they frightened my children and woke them up from their sleep by knocking hard on the door. I am still trying to calm them down but they are constantly asking about their father,” Walaa explained.

Playing a hostage card

While Israel talks about the settlers and soldiers being held hostage by Hamas, it has adopted a similar tactic to pick Palestinian men and children from their homes and torture them in custody.

In the village of Beit Liqya, west of Ramallah, Israeli soldiers stormed the home of Palestinian researcher Najib Mafarja. When they didn’t find him indoors, they detained his three-year-old child for two hours to pressure his father to surrender himself.

The child returned shaken, trembling with fear.

Detaining family members to pressure Palestinian men to surrender themselves before the Israeli army has become an almost daily occurrence in the West Bank.

Former prisoner Bushra al Taweel from the city of Al-Bireh in the central occupied West Bank told us that the Israeli army stormed her home at dawn on October 19 and ransacked the property.

The raid was aimed at arresting her 61-year-old father, former prisoner Jamal al Taweel, who was released less than a year ago after spending two years under Israeli detention. He has been arrested 12 times and sent to various Israeli prisons. In total, he has spent 16 years in jail.

“My father was not there, so they arrested my brothers to pressure him to surrender,” she said.

Hours after their arrest, the two brothers, Nasrallah and Yahya, were released. Both were tortured– their bodies, from head to feet, had marks of deep wounds and bruises. The family immediately admitted them to the hospital.

Existing Policy

While Israeli bombing has killed over 6,546 Palestinians, including 2,704 children, since October 7, the situation in the occupied West Bank has been deteriorating for years.

Controlled by the Palestinian Authority, the West Bank is under a perpetual assault of both the Israeli army and illegal settlers, who harass and kill Palestinians at whim.

The illegal Jewish settlers have been swallowing Palestinian lands and transferring them to Israeli control without any hindrance.

From the beginning of this year until October 7, 223 Palestinians were killed by Israeli occupation bullets and more than five thousand were arrested in the West Bank.

Palestinian analyst Sari Orabi told TRT World that Israel has always sought political cover from Western powers to murder Palestinians and wipe out entire residential neighbourhoods in Gaza.

“Israel said that the reason for all of this was the Al-Aqsa Flood operation, but it knows that the world public opinion will not support its claims and practices, and rather will be sympathetic towards Palestinians”, Orabi said.

Recent assaults on the Al Aqsa Mosque, the abuse of Palestinian prisoners, the daily killings of defenceless Palestinians and other injustices triggered the October 7 Hamas attack as a sign of resistance, he added.

“Israel doesn’t want to discuss the root of the issue or its practices, but rather wants to give cover to the killing of Palestinians,” Orabi said.