Al Funduq and six other villages under house arrest

Wednesday November 21, 2007 07:42 by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC News

For the first time ever, Israeli forces have put the residents of the sleepy village of al Funduq, near Qalqilia in the northern West Bank, under house arrest.  Villagers must stay indoors - they are forbidden from going outside by the Israeli occupying forces.

House in al Funduq

The justification given for the house arrest is the killing of an Israeli settler by unknown persons late Monday night on a road near the village.  The settler was killed in a drive-by shooting, in which masked gunmen fired at his car from their car, then sped away.

Since that time, Israeli forces have been occupying al Funduq, as well as  Kafr Laqif, Jinsafut, Haja, Baqa Al Hatab, Immatin and Kafr Qaddum, and holding the residents of the villages under house arrest.  Human rights workers stationed in the area have condemned the move as 'collective punishment' of the villagers -- a violation of international law and the Fourth Geneva Convention.

The Israeli forces have also closed the road to Nablus, on which the attack took place, to Palestinian vehicles.  The road is still open to Israeli settlers living in the area in contravention of international law.

The residents of al Funduq were taken by surprise when the Israeli military imposed the house arrest, and many have no food or water in the house to tide them over until the arrest is lifted.  A doctor attempting to travel through Al Funduq to attend an emergency in Jinsafut was denied entry and told to go home by Israeli soldiers.

According to residents of al Funduq, soldiers have told them that they know the shooter of the settler was not from al Funduq, but that the 'security measures' were being taken against the village anyway.  The car allegedly used by the shooter has been found, and determined to not belong to anyone residing in al Funduq. Soldiers, however, claim that the villagers should have prevented the shooting from taking place, thus insinuating that the villagers are somehow responsible for this action.

Al Funduq is a village known for its peaceful coexistence with the settlers living nearby in contravention of international law.  Indeed, it was two villagers from al Funduq who went to the road late Monday night after hearing what they thought was a car accident.  When they saw that a settler had been shot, they immediately called an ambulance to try to save his life.

In addition to the Israeli-imposed house arrest, the villagers have also faced the wrath of settlers, who tore through the village on Tuesday afternoon, smashing Palestinian property and shouting epithets.  It was only after night fell and the local council turned off the street lights that settlers moved their rampage from the heart of the village up to the major highway intersection on the village outskirts, between Al Funduq and Jinsafut.

qalqilia | israeli attacks | news report saed at imemc dot org