Israeli Army Invades Oriyya; Abducts Dozens Of Civilians

Wednesday March 30, 2011 00:42 by Jeany Massad - IMEMC and agencies

The Israeli military invaded the village of Oriyya, near the city of Nablus, in the northern West Bank, early Monday morning. Troops detained hundreds of men, abducting several dozen of them.

The mayor of Oriyya, Qais Awwad, reported to the Palestinian Ma'an News agency that dozens of jeeps with police dogs invaded the city in the middle of the night, and ransacked homes throughout the village.

He added that after taking the fingerprints of hundreds of people the soldiers abducted several dozen.

Oriyya has been the target of a number of invasions since the murder of a family of Israeli settlers earlier this month in Itamar settlement, located within five kilometers of Oriyya.

Israeli authorities called the murder of the family a 'terror attack', although no Palestinian armed group claimed responsibility, and all Palestinian parties and resistance groups denounced the murder of the family, which included the killing of two small children and an infant.

The Palestinians who live in villages near the settlement, like Oriyya village, have also issued statements condemning the murder. Israeli authorities have issued a 'gag order' on the investigation of the case, and have released no information as to the identity of the murderer.

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