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Occupation Forces Block Main Entrance to Shuafat Refugee Camp
A young Palestinian shepherd leads his flock in front of Israel's separation barrier near Shufat refugee camp and the settlement of Pisgat Zeev (background), in east Jerusalem on January 15, 2016. (AFP)
Israeli occupation forces on Sunday blocked the main entrance to the town of Anata and the nearby Shuafat refugee camp, northeast of occupied Jerusalem, denying entry and exit of the local Palestinian residents, according to local sources.
Taha Numan, the mayor of Anata, told WAFA news agency that the Israeli occupation army shut down the only entrance to Anata town last night and raided and searched several homes in the town.
He said as a result of the shutdown, schoolchildren were unable to reach their schools, while employees working outside the town were not able to reach their workplaces.
Confrontations erupted between the Israeli occupation forces and angry local residents in the aftermath of the Israeli raid and closure of the town’s entrance, during which the forces fired teargas canisters and stun grenades at the Palestinian residents.
Last night, dozens of Palestinians suffocated from Israeli teargas during an earlier Israeli raid on the town and the neighbouring Shuafat refugee camp. Soldiers also fired rubber-coated rounds and stun grenades at residents during the raid.
During the raid, army arrested a Palestinian and his wife and son after their stormed their home. They were identified as members of the Tamimi family.
Local sources said thousands of Palestinians could not reach their destinations as the Israeli military blocked movement out of and into the area.
Shu'fat camp is located on the outskirts of Jerusalem. The Israeli settlement of Pisgat Zeev, illegal under international law, is located to the camp’s north. The camp was established by UNRWA in 1965 in order to provide improved housing for the roughly 500 Palestinian refugee families living in Mu'askar camp in the Old City of Jerusalem.
Shu'fat camp was illegally annexed by Israel after the 1967 hostilities when Israel unilaterally established new municipal boundaries for Jerusalem. Camp residents still hold Jerusalem IDs and, unlike West Bank ID holders, are allowed to reside in Jerusalem. Because the Israeli Ministry of the Interior has a policy of revoking Jerusalem IDs from Palestinians who do not have their ‘centre of life’ in Jerusalem, the camp has become a popular place of residence for Palestinians (non-refugees) with Jerusalem IDs who might not otherwise be able to afford the high living costs of Jerusalem.
This has contributed to the extreme overcrowding in the camp. In 2003, Israel began the construction of the West Bank segregation barrier in East Jerusalem to isolate the camp and surrounding areas. This cut off Shu'fat residents from East Jerusalem. Today, residents have to pass through an crowded checkpoint to access Jerusalem.
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