JERUSALEM, Wednesday, October 12, 2022 (WAFA) – Jerusalem figures today expressed deep concern about the deteriorating situation in Shufat refugee camp and nearby Anata town, northeast of Jerusalem, after four days of tight Israeli army siege.
The figures, who included the head of the Jerusalem Affairs Department in the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Adnan Husseini, Minister of Jerusalem Affairs in the Palestinian Authority Fadi Hidmi, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem and Palestine Sheikh Mohammad Hussein, and others, called for international protection for the Palestinians in occupied East Jerusalem and its neighborhoods in light of the brutal measures of the Israeli occupation forces against them.
They said, following a meeting at the PLO office in Ramallah, that they have contacted Arab and international diplomatic missions in Palestine to urge their intervention to end the Israeli siege on Shufat refugee camp that has disrupted education, health and everyday life as a result of Israel’s collective punishment policy following a shooting attack on Saturday night at a checkpoint that led to the death of one soldier and the wounding of another.
“The silence of the international community about the Israeli violations and crimes or being just satisfied with statements of condemnation, timid expressions and a policy of double standards leads the occupying state to persist in its practices that violate all international and humanitarian norms and laws,” said the Jerusalem figures in a statement.
“The absence of international sanctions against the occupying state and failure to implement the United Nations resolutions lead the international community and its bodies to lose their credibility,” they added.
Reports from Shufat camp said a pregnant woman delivered a baby at the closed checkpoint after finding difficulty in crossing it, while an elderly man who needs dialysis could not reach the hospital in light of the closure of the checkpoint since the night of the attack.
Students also were not able to reach their schools outside the camp and employees or workers were not able to reach their workplaces.
Camp residents yesterday declared civil disobedience against the cruel Israeli collective punishment policy against more than 130,000 people who live in the camp and Anata and went out in protests and demonstrations, some of which were attacked by the Israeli forces.
Jerusalem and several West Bank cities and towns today observed a general strike in protest against the Israeli measures in and in support of Shufat refugee camp and Anata.
M.K.
