Israeli army shuts Palestinian shops and schools - 09 Jul 08

Israeli army shuts Palestinian shops and schools - 09 Jul 08:

"The Israeli army has raided City Hall in the West Bank town of Nablus, as part of a crackdown on organizations it says are linked to Hamas.

Troops have been shutting down schools, shops and charities as part of a campaign that the Palestinian prime minister says is badly undermining his government."

IOF troops storm charitable societies in Nablus
08/07/2008 04:28 PM

NABLUS, (PIC)-- The IOF troops stormed at an early hour Tuesday a number of charitable societies including the Nafha society for the defence of human and prisoners' rights and confiscated their contents and funds in the Nablus city.

Palestinian local sources reported that the IOF troops handed closure notices to the raided societies at the pretext that they are affiliated with Hamas and support it financially.

The invading troops broke into and ransacked the Islamic school for girls in the Rafidia area and confiscated all its contents as well as a number of buildings and a shopping mall in the same area. They also stormed a mosque in the Askar refugee camp and confiscated Qur'an books, according to the sources.

In another context, the IOF troops broke into and ransacked on the same day the headquarters of Al-Bireh municipality, central West Bank, in addition to the offices of the Islamic labor union in Ramallah.

Sheikh Jamal Al-Taweel, the mayor of Al-Bireh city, told the PIC reporter that the IOF troops stole computers and files, and sabotaged the offices, adding that the municipality provides public services to the citizens and such Israeli acts are intended primarily to prompt the citizens to leave the city through tampering with their interests.

Palestinian eyewitnesses said that a large number of IOF troops boarding more than 20 Israeli military vehicles cordoned off at dawn the four-story municipal building and after they detained the janitor, they started to rummage through the offices and smash the furniture.

The eyewitnesses added the IOF troops loaded their cars with documents, files, computers and everything belonging to citizens and drove off.

The IOF troops also raided the headquarters of the Islamic labor union on the Quds street in Ramallah and confiscated all its contents.

Israeli media outlets reported that the IOF troops kidnapped at dawn Tuesday nine Palestinians during raids in the villages of Nahalin and Beit Fujjar in Bethlehem, the Abu Dis town in eastern occupied Jerusalem and the Halhul city in Al-Khalil, and took them to interrogation centers.

In another context, Palestinian farmers from villages in Ramallah warned that suspicious people offered them exorbitant amounts of money to buy their lands, but they refused.

The farmers expressed their fears that these people could be brokers intending to purchase Palestinian lands for Israeli settlers.

Hamas deplores Israel and PA for targeting private and public services in WB

08/07/2008 - 08:46 PM

NABLUS, (PIC)-- The Hamas Movement strongly denounced Tuesday the fierce campaigns waged jointly by the IOF troops and the PA security apparatuses against the Palestinian citizens which targeted their means of livelihood and private and public services in the West Bank, describing the situation there as extremely serious.

Hamas considered the raids on medical centers, charities, clubs, shopping malls, stores and other service institutions in the Nablus city a serious and clear indication that the Israeli occupation is persistent in harming the Palestinian people under many flimsy and silly pretexts.

Hamas questioned the position of the PA negotiators towards the IOF troops' assaults that happened today on civil and public places and their closure of many buildings including a shopping mall in the West Bank, saying that the PA silence towards such acts proves to the Palestinian citizen that there are complementary roles between the PA leadership and Israel aimed at weakening the Palestinian community and pushing it into begging aid from PA-affiliated channels.

Hamas called on human rights organizations and media outlets to go to Nablus to expose to the local and international public opinion the level of criminality which targeted private and public property.