A Palestinian merchant in the northern West Bank city of Nablus was stopped in his tracks as he inspected what remained of his destroyed stores.
Merchant Alam Slah told PNN Sunday that his Eastern Market shops were totally destroyed. The destruction occurred during the latest Israeli invasion of the city that has seen nearly nonstop invasions for the past four years, more direct invasions than any other Palestinian city.
He said that he was only able to view the damages after the Israelis withdrew from the latest invasion. The merchant expressed grave surprise at the amount of damage Israeli forces did to his vegetables and fruits, pointing out that an Israeli bulldozer ran them over, treading several times to clearly ensure complete destruction to the Old City shops that housed the produce.
Slah added that as a long-time wholesaler he bought fruits and vegetables by the tens of thousands, estimating the damage to be approximately 15,000 NIS. He said that there are so many, not all fit in his three shops and uses additional storage space on a parallel street, depending on reaching them throughout the day and night to replenish his once thriving business.
Just tens of meters from the produce shops, a Mosque’s windows on Faisal Street looked as if an earthquake had struck them. He confirmed to PNN that all were destroyed due to a major Israeli explosion in Nablus’ truly ancient Old City, one of the oldest and most historic in the world. Slah added that it seemed an Israeli missile either targeted the area as several other shops were completely or partially damaged. He suspected that if not from a missile, it may have been the random shooting that caused the damages, as Israeli forces often open random tank and machine gun fire during such incursions.
Of equal importance is the imprisonment of five more young Palestinian men from Nablus. During the invasion of Nablus City, and its refugee camps of Balata, Askar, and Al Ein, Israeli forces took 17 year old Ahmed Nagi Abu Hamada and 22 year old handicapped Mohammad Abu Hamada to unknown locations. From the other areas, Israeli forces took Wasim, originally from Zouata Village, 21 year old Mohammad Kamal Al Terawi and 23 year old Mahmoud Gaser Shloub to unknown locations.
Israeli forces have been attacking Nablus City and its refugee camps, including arresting many residents for the past several weeks.
