HEBRON, the occupied West Bank — A soldier leans in through a car window to check IDs. Armed jeeps and a dozen soldiers stand behind him, while a line of vehicles stretches up the road, far beyond what the eye can see.
This is just one of the many new checkpoints that cropped up overnight throughout the occupied West Bank in response to the alleged kidnapping of three teenage Israeli settlers near Gush Etzion last Thursday.
The city of Hebron and its surrounding villages, in particular, have been targeted in the search for the teens. The region has been closed to the rest of the West Bank since Saturday evening. For the people of Hebron and the surrounding areas, the limits on their movement and nightly raids and arrests have been crippling.
“The entrances are blocked, the situation is very bad,” Samir Naser, a resident of the city, told MintPress News. “No side or faction is really taking responsibility for what happened [to the settlers], so I can only see this continuing and getting worse and worse.”
In fact, Ahrar al-Khalil, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades have all claimed responsibility for the alleged kidnappings.
However, these groups’ claims have not been taken seriously by Palestinian authorities, who say the groups lack the infrastructure necessary for such an operation. Israeli authorities — including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — have put the blame on Hamas and focused their campaign on current members of the organization. Hamas has denied any involvement.
Clashes in Hebron
Unable to pick up fares from a dwindling customer base, long lines of taxis idled near the famous Hebron market in the city center on Monday. Just 50 meters away, near Shuhada Street, the entrance to the illegal Israeli settlement, soldiers lined up along the side of the road, facing the shabaab, or young men, of the city.
Shabaab loitered on the empty streets and sidewalks on Monday, speaking to each other but still obviously aware of the soldiers stationed up the hill in front of them. The atmosphere was relatively calm until the first tear gas canister was launched by a soldier guarding Shuhada Street around mid-morning.
“I believe if the soldiers continue to keep our city closed and continue to arrest people in the night, then the third intifada it will start in Hebron,” Zaed Tamimi, one of the young shabaab facing the soldiers, said among his friends.
His comments to MintPress met with agreement among several others, who voiced similar opinions about the possible outcomes of a long-term crackdown. By then, most of the young men had covered their faces with items of clothing to protect themselves from the tear gas. The fabric would also shield their identities from the soldiers, which was crucial considering more than 150 individuals had been detained in the West Bank since Thursday night, according to figures from the Israeli military.
The majority of the arrests in Hebron have taken place during overnight and predawn raids in the small villages that surround the city. One of the night raids on Sunday resulted in the arrest of Ziad Akram al-Qawasami. His father and two young siblings were injured by shrapnel when the door to their home was blasted open by Israeli forces looking for Ziad. On the same night, Ahmed Sabarin was fatally shot in the chest at the al-Jalazon refugee camp near Ramallah following clashes with Israeli military forces.
Away from his friends who were still in a standoff with the soldiers, Tamimi’s tone changed slightly toward one rather unique to the occupied Palestinian territories — simultaneously defiant and melancholy. It also shifted away from his previous talk of the third intifada.
“Today we have nothing to do, it feels like we have lost our future, but we try not to give up, we have to find a way to get past these difficult ways put on us,” Tamimi said. “We continue because we believe we are on the right side, and the right side is the one that always wins”
Cracking down
In a nationally televised address on Sunday morning, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu announced that security forces should use “all measures” available to help find the missing teens.
“(They were) kidnapped by a terror organization, there is no doubt about that,” Netanyahu said, adding that it was the Palestinian Authority’s responsibility to respond to the disappearance of the young settlers.
He also pledged retaliatory measures, which were largely seen in the recent spree of raids and arrests.
Meanwhile, social media campaigns in Israel have called for extreme measures, highlighting the anger that is building in Israel. One Facebook page calling for a Palestinian to be executed every hour until the missing Israelis are found had garnered more than 19,000 “likes” by Tuesday. A former member of the Knesset has suggested that Israel should “kill terrorists in public hangings” in response to the alleged kidnappings in the West Bank.
A spokesperson for the Israeli Defense Forces told MintPress that further measures in “Judea and Samaria would be put in place out of necessity.” When asked more specifically about this might constitute and what measures may take place, the spokesperson said such questions should be directed toward the Ministry of Defense.
The Ministry of Defense has yet to respond to multiple phone calls or emails from MintPress.
Nearly every Hebron resident MintPress spoke to on the streets expressed the belief that the crackdown on the city would only get worse if no new leads were found on the missing Israeli teens.
Closure expanding to other areas of the West Bank
Hebron has borne the brunt of the Israeli government’s actions this week, but it is not the only area facing army aggression and the enhanced occupation tactics. “Flying” checkpoints — temporary roadblocks manned by soldiers that can be installed anytime, anyplace — have been set up on many main roads, with several on the road from Bethlehem to Hebron alone.
These checkpoints can severely limit or even halt the movement of Palestinians. But several residents of Bethlehem, Ramallah and Nablus told MintPress that they still managed to arrive at their intended destinations, after passing rigorous inspections in which all passengers were pulled out of vehicles and checked for documents while their car was thoroughly searched, and after going through multiple checkpoints.
Roadblocks were set up around Bethlehem and Beit Jala on Sunday, and army jeeps and soldiers were deployed in the area and homes were raided. On Monday night, rumors continued to circulate that soldiers were starting to conduct raids on houses in the village of Wadi Nis near Bethlehem and the village of Betunia near Ramallah.
Thaer Rubayah, a taxi driver from the Dheisheh Refugee Camp in the Bethlehem governorate, said his business has been cut in half since flying checkpoints starting popping up on Saturday.
“People are scared to travel now. I’m a private taxi, so most of my work is taking people outside the city, not every taxi can take people outside the city, that’s the kind of work I have always depended on,” Rubayah said.
Due to the unpredictable checkpoints, Rubyah said he has waited for a long time, only to find that he would have to turn around and lose out on a fare.
“I know the streets very well, driving is my trade, but now all the main roads are closed to Palestinians, or they have very long waits at these new checkpoints. This is like a big game, and people don’t want to risk it,” Rubayah said. “Bethlehem is not under lockdown like Hebron, but it might as well be. People are locking themselves down out of fear.”
The right to freedom of movement and the ability to move within and outside of borders is enshrined in international law. Israeli human rights NGO B’Tselem issued a press release on Sunday urging Israeli authorities “to refrain from meting out collective punishment on the local population” during the search for the missing Israeli teens.
“Of course it’s collective punishment,” Rubayah said when asked about the term. “What did I do? What did you do? We are all being punished for this. I hope they find the boys, but I don’t think what is happening to us because of these missing boys is right. It’s not.”