Israeli soldiers forced, on Saturday morning, several Palestinian women to undress at a military roadblock, east of the West Bank city of Tubas, the Palestinian News Agency WAFA reported.
As several women were tarrying to cross the roadblock while heading towards villages in the northern plains, soldiers forced them to remove their veils, and dreses without specifying a reason for this act.
Witnesses at the checkpoint said that they were surprised by this procedure, especially after the army stopped using it more than two years ago after several residents and human rights organizations filed complaints against such acts since it violate the basic principles of human rights.
A resident from Bardala village, near Tubas, said that while he was waiting at Tiaseer checkpoint, he saw soldiers forcing women to undress “in order to search them”.
“Several women refused to undress, and preferred to go back home”, he added.
Two years ago, the Israeli army used this procedure against dozens of residents, but reduced its usage as a result of complaints and media reports which exposed these illegal acts.
Uqab Dharaghma, head of Tubas municipality, denounced this humiliation and illegal conducts of the soldiers against the Palestinian residents, especially the women.
“This shows the immorality of the Israeli soldiers”, he said, “We demand an end to these barbarian acts”.
Dharaghma added appealed human rights organizations to expose the Israeli violations against the Palestinian women and residents.
