JENIN, February 15, 2016 (WAFA) - Israeli forces Monday sealed off al-‘Araqa village, west of Jenin, in the northern West Bank, declaring it a closed military zone.
Large Israeli troops blocked off all entrances to the northern West Bank village with earth mounds, preventing families from leaving and entering as large troops were deployed in and around the village.
The blockade was imposed the day two 15-year-old villagers were shot dead by Israeli forces near the village.
Nihad Waqed and Fu’ad Waqed were fatally shot after they allegedly opened fire on soldiers.
Al-‘Araqa was the third village in the West Bank to be punitively blockaded by Israeli forces over the last two weeks.
Israel had imposed a six-day tight blockade on Nahhalin village, west of Bethlehem, under the pretext of searching for a Palestinian who allegedly carried out a stabbing attack in a nearby settlement.
Palestinians have slammed such blockades as tantamount to “collective punishment” of their entire communities.
As a result of such blockades, Palestinian communities’ access to health care services, food and education was severely restricted.
The Jenin town of Qabatiya, with a population of 25,000, was placed under a three-day blockade last week after three teens carried out a fatal stabbing and shooting attack that claimed the life of a female soldier and wounded another in Jerusalem.
The blockades came as part of several measures approved by Israeli cabinet against Palestinians across Israel and the occupied Palestinian Territories since violence flared up in October 1. Such measures have included road closures, restricting movement in and out of Palestinian villages and towns and carrying out detention raids.
Israeli has been criticized for its reflexive use of lethal force and “extrajudicial killings” when Palestinian alleged attackers no longer pose an immediate threat. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that circumstances surrounding such killings over the past months remain disputed.
Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallström called for an investigation to be opened into Israel’s “extrajudicial killings” of Palestinians.
“It is vital that there are thorough and credible investigations into these deaths in order to clarify and bring about possible accountability,” she stated.
K.F/M.H
