The Israeli army launched a military offensive on March 31, dubbed "ongoing pressure", which is ongoing in the city, suburbs and refugee camps of Nablus.
The 15,000 residents of Nablus city and its four refugee camp have become almost used to the daily schedule of the Israeli army, which invades nightly after midnight, and stays in town until dawn, firing randomly and ransacking Palestinian homes. Over the last few days, the Army has also invaded during the daytime, arresting and detaining the mothers and wives of alleged resistance fighters.
Amongst the arrestees identified were the mothers of fighters Sufyian Qandeel, Hani Ewejan, Sami Estaita, Ameen Lebada and the wide of Nasser Akoub, the wife and the mother-in-law of the fighter Fadi Qfesha, in addition two youths, Hussam Mefleh and Nidda Ameera, who were rounded up during Wednesday’s invasion.
All of the arrestees were taken to the Israeli occupation army camp Huwwara, where they were subjected to 10-12 hours of interrogation.
The wife of fighter Nasser Akoub said, "We were all questioned separately, the Army took photos of us and threatened to re-arrest us again if the wanted fighters do not surrender."
She added, "the army threatened to arrest me and my sons to force Nasser to turn himself in."
Palestinians who join the resistance generally leave their homes, and families do not know their whereabouts.
The practice of "baiting" — arresting the family member of a wanted person in order to get that person to surrender — is an internationally condemned practice that is in violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention, to which Israel is a signatory.
The arrest raid Wednesday was accompanied by the destruction of several homes by Israeli soldiers. The Qandeel family home was ransacked to the point where it is unlivable.
Also on Wednesday, 11 Nablus residents were wounded by live and rubber coated steel bullets fired by Israeli forces, medics reported.
The casualties of the ongoing Israeli offensive against Nablus for the last 20 days include more than 150 wounded, in addition to a child killed by a rubber coated bullet shot from close range at his head.
Dr. Hussam Al Juharri, director of Raphedia hospital, said that most of the injuries were gunshot wounds in the upper parts of the body, and rubber-coated steel bullets fired at the head.
He underlined the dangers of rubber-coated bullets, noting that the bullets are steel with simply a rubber coating, and that, "one of these bullets killed the teen Hussam Al Shafeai with a shot in his head a few days ago."
Many of those arrested and injured are youth under the age of eighteen. Mohammed Al Qabejj, director of the education directorate in Nablus district, said that 26 male and female students were arrested by the Israeli occupation forces since April 3. He indicated that this number included only the students of the government-run schools, and that there may be others from private schools who were arrested.
Mr. Al Qabejj noted that the education process has been seriously disrupted by the ongoing invasion, which prevents students from attending classes.
"For example, classes had to be cancelled yesterday and the day before in Amro Bin Al Ass and Abu Hazm schools, and the schools in the old town of the city and its environs were also disrupted."
"Israeli military checkpoints installed at the entrances of the city also prevented 150 teachers from reaching their schools in the nearby villages and towns yesterday, and the Israeli ban on passage for anyone below age 30 has prevented many of our young teachers from reaching work for over two weeks now."
Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz promised Wednesday that "Operation Ongoing Pressure" would continue unabated in Nablus and throughout occupied Palestine.
Listen to an audio interview with a Nablus resident describing the raid (MP3)
*this article was sourced from the Palestinian Authority official news source, and local sources
