RAMALLAH, April 5, 2006 (WAFA)- Palestinian Grassroots Anti-Apartheid Wall Campaign, said that Occupation Forces have launched a new strategy of control in the West Bank villages of Budrus and Um Shara'it near Ramallah, undertaking night raids into the villages and forcing people at gunpoint to fingerprint checks.

The Campaign said, in a press release, that Israeli soldiers have stormed several houses over the last week in Budrus undertaking what they call a "statistical survey", which involves forcibly documenting all of the men in the households.

In an attempt to intimidate the villagers of Budrus -known for their united defiance of the Apartheid Wall the nocturnal raids reflect the desperate measures taken by the Occupation to subdue the popular resistance of the village, the Campaign added.

Budrus plays a central role in the mobilization against the Wall. Villagers have repeatedly torn down parts of the Wall running through the village lands, and continually confronted the Occupation which strangles their lives.

The Campaign revealed that similar assaults have occurred in Um Shara'it, an area also located adjacent to the path of the Wall, and which has suffered isolation of the village's lands.

"Aimed at cracking the united resistance to the Wall and Occupation - present across numerous towns and villages - Palestinians have refuted the latest strategy of intimidation," the Campaign concluded. "Countering the strangle-hold of the Occupation over life and land, escalating defiance marks the ghettos of Palestinian communities in the West Bank".

A.D. (22:16 P) (19:16 GMT)