Eyewitnesses reported Monday that Israeli soldiers have been confiscating the identity cards of Palestinian women from Jenin and Tulkarem, apparently due to the fact that the women are related to men who are ‘wanted’ by Israeli forces.
As a result, many women travelling from Nablus to Ramallah, among other cities, are being stopped at Zaatara Checkpoint and denied freedom of movement.
The northern West Bank town is the scene of regular Israeli invasions and restrictions of Palestinian movement.
Many Palestinian women in the area have lodged complaints with Israeli authorities regarding the difficulty of dealing with Israeli soldiers occupying the Zaatara Checkpoint in southern Nablus, according to a local source.
One woman told reporters today that Israeli soldiers were stopping individuals under the pretence of their relationship to men on Israel’s so-called “wanted” list. This is part of the Israeli campaign to force the “wanted” to surrender by arresting their mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers and wives. This practice, known as ‘baiting’, is illegal under international law, although widely used by Israeli troops.
In well-documented cases by human rights and prisoner rights groups, Israeli forces have also harassed the families of so-called "wanted" men, breaking into their homes at all hours, and threatening them.
