by tyler | Jun 19, 2023 | CNN, middleeast
An Israeli raid into one of the tensest cities in the occupied West Bank erupted Monday into a massive firefight, leaving at least five Palestinians dead and dozens wounded as the Israeli military struggled to rescue troops under heavy fire.
The Palestinian Ministry of Health said of the five dead, two were in their teens and three in their 20s. At least 91 were wounded in the clashes, 23 of them in critical to severe condition, the ministry said. Eight Israeli troops were injured and successfully evacuated, according to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).
Israeli Air Force attack helicopters opened fire from the skies over Jenin to help Israeli troops leave the city, the IDF said.
About 11 hours after Palestinian sources first said the incursion began, IDF international spokesperson Lt. Col. Richard Hecht told CNN that Israeli troops and vehicles were out of Jenin.
Hecht earlier said the soldiers were “not trapped” and had “moved to other protected vehicles involved in the extraction.”
He had noted at least five vehicles were stuck, adding: “It’s not looking good. It’s going to take a few hours. It’s going to be pretty harsh.”
It was the first time since the Second Intifada that Israeli helicopters had opened fire while evacuating wounded troops, Israel Army Radio reported. The Second Intifada – a major Palestinian uprising – ended in 2005.
The Jenin Brigade, a locally based militant group, said its fighters had fired at an Israeli helicopter, forcing it to retreat, and said they had managed to immobilize Israeli military vehicles with gunfire and ambushes.
The Palestinians killed included three people in their 20s, and two teens: Khalid Azam Asa’asa, 21, Qasam Faisal Abu Seriya, 29, Qais Majdi Adel Jabareen, 21, Ahmad Khaled Faysal Draghma, 19 and Ahmed Youssef Saqer, 15, the Palestinian Health Ministry said.
The Jenin Brigade, a Palestinian militant group associated with Islamic Jihad, claimed Jabereen and Seriya as fighters who died in the clashes.
Islamic Jihad also claimed Draghma as a member of its Toubas Brigade. Calling him a “heroic fighter,” Islamic Jihad said he died confronting occupation forces, a reference to Israeli troops. Social media video suggested that Draghma was shot while throwing stones at IDF forces.
Of those wounded, 23 are in critical to severe condition, the Palestinian health ministry said. A Palestinian girl also sustained a critical head injury, the ministry added.
Of the eight Israeli troops wounded, three are IDF soldiers and five are Israel Border Police officers. Three were moderately injured and five were lightly injured.
In a statement Sheba Medical Center said one of the injured in moderate condition is “being treated in a shock room by the medical teams at the emergency medicine center.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited some of the wounded troops later in the day, photos from the Government Press Office showed.
An Israeli military dog, Dago, suffered internal injuries in the raid and is being treated at the Rambam Health Care Campus in Haifa, the hospital said.
The Israeli incursion also involved an undercover Israel Border Police unit called Yamas, Israel Police said Monday.
The IDF and Border Police said “a massive exchange of fire took place,” during the arrest operation.
They were attacked with gunfire and hurled explosive devices and responded with live fire, hitting people, the IDF said.
Hecht, the IDF spokesperson, said a Panther Command and Liaison Vehicle was hit by a “pretty advanced” improvised explosive device.
“The scale of the IED is an issue. We are still looking into it,” he said. “It’s pretty unusual and dramatic. It will affect how we do business.”
He said troops came under a “massive amount of gunfire” in addition to the explosives, but was unable to clarify exactly how the seven injured forces were hit, whether by the IED or other fire.
An Apache helicopter was used to fire on open areas to provide cover while some of the rescue operations were underway, Hecht said, adding that such tactic has not been used “in a long time.”
Videos from Jenin circulating on social media showed Israeli military vehicles coming under fire both on the ground and in the air.
One showed a military truck driving down the road with near-continuous cracking of gunfire before a burst of smoke erupts around it. Another showed several trucks sitting crosswise along a road with bullet damage to their front windows.
And a third showed a heavy armored Israeli truck attempting to tow a second one with a rope or cable. The lead vehicle revs its engine, apparently trying to drag the other vehicle around a parked car on a street, then reverses, pushing the following vehicle backwards, before rolling forward again with the second truck in tow. The sound of gunfire erupts as the two vehicles move up the road.
A video posted on Twitter by Army Radio showed a helicopter launching four projectiles, with white smoke trailing behind them as they clear the chopper. Another video circulating on social media showed what appeared to be the same helicopter with the sound of gunfire in the background.
by tyler | Jun 19, 2023 | CNN, middleeast
An Israeli raid into one of the tensest cities in the occupied West Bank erupted Monday into a massive firefight, leaving at least four Palestinians dead and dozens wounded as the Israeli military struggled to rescue troops under heavy fire.
The Palestinian Ministry of Health said of the four dead, one was a teenager. At least 45 were wounded in the clashes, the ministry said. Seven Israeli troops were injured and successfully evacuated, according to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).
Israeli Air Force attack helicopters opened fire from the skies over Jenin to help Israeli troops leave the city, the IDF said.
Eight hours after the attempted undercover operation to arrest two suspects was launched, some Israeli soldiers were still awaiting an extraction that the IDF said would be “very harsh.”
IDF International Spokesperson Lt. Col. Richard Hecht said the soldiers are “not trapped” and have “moved to other protected vehicles involved in the extraction.”
He noted at least five vehicles are stuck, adding: “It’s not looking good. It’s going to take a few hours. It’s going to be pretty harsh.”
It was the first time since the Second Intifada that Israeli helicopters had opened fire while evacuating wounded troops, Israel Army Radio reported. The Second Intifada – a major Palestinian uprising – ended in 2005.
The Jenin Brigade, a locally based militant group, said its fighters had fired at an Israeli helicopter, forcing it to retreat, and said they had managed to immobilize Israeli military vehicles with gunfire and ambushes.
The firefight was still ongoing as of 12:30 p.m local time (5:30 a.m. ET), Hecht said, seven and a half hours after Palestinian sources in Jenin said it began.
He said they army “is aware of a big number of Palestinians hit” and will know more details in the coming hours.
The Palestinians killed included three people in their 20s: Khalid Azam Asa’asa, 21, Qasam Faisal Abu Seriya, 29, Qais Majdi Adel Jabareen, 21 and teenager Ahmed Youssef Saqer, who was 15, the Palestinian Health Ministry said.
A Palestinian girl also sustained a critical head injury, the ministry added.
Of the seven Israeli troops wounded, two are IDF soldiers and five are Israel Border Police officers. Three were moderately injured and four were lightly injured.
In a statement Sheba Medical Center said one of the injured in moderate condition is “being treated in a shock room by the medical teams at the emergency medicine center.”
The Israeli incursion also involved an undercover Israel Border Police unit called Yamas, Israel Police said Monday.
The IDF and Border Police said “a massive exchange of fire took place,” during the arrest operation.
They were attacked with gunfire and hurled explosive devices and responded with live fire, hitting people, the IDF said.
Hecht, the IDF spokesperson, said a Panther Command and Liaison Vehicle was hit by a “pretty advanced” improvised explosive device.
“The scale of the IED is an issue. We are still looking into it,” he said. “It’s pretty unusual and dramatic. It will affect how we do business.”
He said troops came under a “massive amount of gunfire” in addition to the explosives, but was unable to clarify exactly how the seven injured forces were hit, whether by the IED or other fire.
An Apache helicopter was used to fire on open areas to provide cover while some of the rescue operations were underway, Hecht said, adding that such tactic has not been used “in a long time.”
Videos from Jenin circulating on social media showed Israeli military vehicles coming under fire both on the ground and in the air.
One showed a military truck driving down the road with near-continuous cracking of gunfire before a burst of smoke erupts around it. Another showed several trucks sitting crosswise along a road with bullet damage to their front windows.
And a third showed a heavy armored Israeli truck attempting to tow a second one with a rope or cable. The lead vehicle revs its engine, apparently trying to drag the other vehicle around a parked car on a street, then reverses, pushing the following vehicle backwards, before rolling forward again with the second truck in tow. The sound of gunfire erupts as the two vehicles move up the road.
A video posted on Twitter by Army Radio showed a helicopter launching four projectiles, with white smoke trailing behind them as they clear the chopper. Another video circulating on social media showed what appeared to be the same helicopter with the sound of gunfire in the background.
by tyler | Jun 7, 2023 | CNN, middleeast
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan swore in a new cabinet over the weekend, ushering in what he has called “a new period of glory” for the Turkish Republic as it begins its second century, and one that he hopes will cement his rule over the nation of 85 million.
The cabinet appointments hint at a return to orthodox economic policy while holding course on foreign policy as the president heads into his third decade in power.
On the economic front, the return of Mehmet Simsek as finance minister – a post he previously held between 2009 and 2015 before going on to become Erdogan’s deputy prime minister – has been eagerly anticipated in business circles at home and abroad.
When Simsek’s predecessor Nureddin Nebati officially handed over his portfolio on Sunday, microphones picked up a sigh of relief from him. That was no surprise given the state of the Turkish economy. Erdogan’s unorthodox economic policies over the past few years have led to a cost-of-living crisis and a plummeting Turkish lira. Efforts to defend the battered currency have resulted in Turkish central bank reserves dropping to record lows. The lira plunged 7% on Wednesday, hitting 22.98 against the US dollar, Reuters reported. That’s what Simsek is up against as he takes office.
“Transparency, consistency, predictability and compliance with international norms will be our basic principles in achieving this goal in the upcoming period,” Simsek said in his first speech since being appointed to the post. “Turkey has no choice but to return to a rational basis. A rule-based, predictable Turkish economy will be the key to achieving the desired prosperity.”
With that message Simsek may be able to convince foreign investors and instill enough hope domestically to keep the G20 economy afloat.
But his real uphill battle might be in convincing Erdogan himself. While Simsek will likely be the chief architect of a new economic policy, the president’s other appointments suggest he may be leveraging different economic visions, according to Mehmet Celik, editorial coordinator at the pro-government Daily Sabah newspaper. Vice President Cevdet Yilmaz is a career bureaucrat and economist, and Trade Minister Omer Bolat comes from a business background. “The picks were strategic so that there will be a new balance,” Celik told CNN.
In the international arena, Turkey has deployed a muscular policy implemented through the foreign and defense ministries along with Turkish intelligence that has expanded its reach regionally and carved out an independent path for the NATO member. In that regard, continuity is likely.
The new foreign minister is a well-known figure to Turks and international players who have negotiated with Turkey of late. Hakan Fidan, who had served as head of Turkish Intelligence Agency (MIT) since 2010, has been in every room and every discussion that has been pivotal to Turkish foreign policy over the last few years. He’s been ever-present but rarely heard – a shadow diplomat in Erdogan’s foreign policy arsenal who has charted rough waters in Syria, Libya and beyond.
Fidan has played a central role in shaping and carrying out foreign policy along with former chief spokesperson and de facto national security adviser Ibrahim Kalin, who has now taken his old job as intelligence chief.
“I will continue to improve our national foreign policy vision, which is based on the sovereign will of our people and independence of our state from all spheres of influence,” Fidan said in his handover ceremony.
Ankara’s foreign policy has put it on a collision course with neighbors, allies and partners including Greece, with which it has tense relations in the eastern Mediterranean, and Western countries, over the perceived threat from Kurdish groups backed by the US in northern Syria.
“There is a willingness from Turkey to put (its) guard down when it comes to the West,” he said. “But when it’s all take and no give from the West, Turkey doesn’t want to settle for that… It will continue to put its foot down and stand against being dictated to,” said Celik.
Those strained relations will not be easy to mend but Fidan has been masterful in his previous role as spymaster in finding ways to negotiate breakthroughs in difficult relations. He has stepped in to mend frayed ties with Gulf Arab states, and has been a driving force behind the slow rapprochement between Damascus and Ankara. The shadow diplomat now enters an era where he is the main voice for Turkey abroad.
All eyes will be on him as he navigates Sweden’s attempt to join NATO. While the US and European NATO members have been in a hurry to admit the Scandinavian country, Turkey has held up membership due to what Ankara says is Sweden’s harboring of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which is outlawed in Turkey, the EU and the US. Sweden has acknowledged that the group’s activities in the country were “extensive” and “a bigger problem than we realized”.
At the interior ministry, Suleyman Soylu, a self-styled tough guy, is being replaced by career bureaucrat and former governor of Istanbul Ali Yerlikaya. Its portfolio is one of the country’s largest. Yerlikaya’s main areas of focus will be the ongoing response to the earthquake which killed more than 50,000 people in southern Turkey, the 3.5 million Syrian refugees in the country and the continued counter-terrorism efforts against the PKK.
The fight against terrorism, which has broad support across the political spectrum in Turkey, is likely to remain the same but the tone of the ministry is likely to change, according to Celik. Yerlikaya is a softer-spoken politician who has quietly run Istanbul since 2018 and is unlikely to emulate Soylu’s harsh rhetorical style. A shift in tone may serve to bridge some of the social divide that has plagued Turkey in recent years.
The outgoing cabinet members are, however, far from retired. Soylu, former Defense Minister Hulusi Akar and ex-Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu are all lawmakers from Erdogan’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party). They’ve just been sworn in for their new terms in parliament, highlighting the party’s tremendous strength there. Their voices will likely echo louder than those of opposition MPs, who now will face an even tougher time convincing voters of their chops in the legislature.
Overall, the new cabinet is a departure from the political appointments that have defined the era in Turkey following the attempted coup in 2015, instead drawing on a strong pool of technocrats.
As Erdogan leads the Turkish republic into its second century, he appears to be employing a back-to-the-basics approach. With social polarization at an all-time high, the economy in crisis and a region that is rife with difficulties, the cabinet has potential to reset some economic missteps of the previous years while holding the line on foreign policy. But a lot will come down to what Erdogan wants, because in Turkey, the buck stops with him.
by tyler | Jun 2, 2023 | CNN, middleeast
Under the bright blue water of the Gulf of Aqaba on the Red Sea, the view is stunning. Expansive coral reefs teeming with life; colorful fish and invertebrates. But something crucial has gone missing from this beautiful scene, and that could threaten this entire ecosystem.
Black sea urchins.
In January, Tel Aviv University scientists at the Interuniversity Institute for Marine Sciences in Eilat noticed that in the span of just a few days, the entire population of the black sea urchins in the northern part of this gulf were gone.
These creatures – jet black, round-bodied and with long spikes – may be better known for their painful stings. But they are also a crucial part of the ecological system of these coral reefs. Without them, the reefs are at risk.
Dr. Omri Bronstein leads the team of researchers here. He says he received a panicked phone call from his PhD students one evening in January after they had gone on a regular monitoring night dive.
“They came out of the water, still with their diving suits. And they called and said, ‘Listen, there is something very strange going on our site … the sea urchins are completely gone,’” Bronstein said. “It was shocking. It was simply shocking, because this is a site we know intimately well, for the past five years. And we’ve never seen any fluctuations on that magnitude.”
Bronstein and his team soon realized whatever was killing the sea urchins, most likely a waterborne pathogen, was doing so quickly. And it is spreading to the waters off countries in the region, including Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Greece, and Turkey.
“It takes 48 hours for an individual to go from a live healthy individual to basically bare skeleton,” Bornstein said, adding that the urchins all but vanish within a day because their remains nearly all break down into the water.
The epidemic only affects the black sea urchins, and was even killing them in the research lab’s tanks, and Eilat’s aquarium – which all use freshly circulating seawater.
“We know that it is transmitted through the water, they don’t need direct contact,” Bronstein said.
The tanks are now covered in the algae the sea urchins normally eat.
When we visited, a lone young sea urchin remained in the tanks that once hosted dozens. But these creatures are the kind that can only survive in large numbers.
“When you see an individual, or even a few individuals, even when they survive, that’s not enough to sustain a population. There is a minimum critical size, population size that is needed in order to maintain thriving population,” Bronstein said. “In addition, one of the strategies of this species in terms of protecting themselves [from predators] is that they normally form aggregations of dozens, and sometimes even in the past hundreds of individuals. And then by creating this cushion of spines, basically, they provide protection for the entire group. When you’re alone, your chances are not so good.”
Beachgoers may be relieved they don’t have to worry about stepping on their spikes. But the urchin’s disappearance is incredibly dangerous for the unique coral reefs here and elsewhere in the Mediterranean region.
Black sea urchins feed on the algae that grows on the reef. Bronstein said they’re sometimes called the gardeners of the sea for that reason. Algae competes with coral for sunlight. So by eating it, the urchins give the corals the chance to grow, rather than be suffocated by algae, which has a much faster growth rate than coral.
“There is nothing we can create manually to clear the algae, even in the lab setting,” Bronstein said. “So it’s now not just the sea urchins themselves that are damaged, but the entire network – in our lab or in the sea – that relies on these crucial components.”
A similar pathogen killed off 98% of the black sea urchin population in the Caribbean in the 1980s, and seemingly returned to the Caribbean in 2022. That may be where the Red Sea pathogen came from, Bronstein said.
“There is a very good chance that there’s been transport based on maritime transport that actually basically helped this pathogen jump across the entire Atlantic,” Bronstein said. “The other hypothesis that is still not been overruled is that we might be looking at a pathogen that has always been here, or has been in the environment for many years. And for some reason, something changed and triggered it to be more violent, and cause the mortalities that we see today.”
The threat to the Red Sea’s coral reefs is not just a threat to a beautiful site. These reefs are unique in the world because of their ability to withstand high temperatures, which causes coral bleaching, and the effects of climate change.
Omri Omesi, a marine ranger with the Israel Nature and Parks Authority, called the situation a “catastrophe” not only for this gulf, but potentially for all of the Earth’s coral reefs.
“This is one of the most northern tropical reefs in the world, this is actually a miracle that they exist,” Omesi said. “It’s very, very important to keep this place going because gives hope for other coral reefs in the world. We can learn why we have this resistant coral bleaching.”
A major aspect of Bronstein’s team’s research is studying the environmental DNA of the water. Without the need for more invasive methods, the DNA analysis can also help predict what may be happening – like another epidemic and spawning activity – before researchers can physically see it.
Given how quickly the urchins disappeared, Bronstein said scientists have little time to take action. His team skipped the normal academic process that can take months or years to conduct studies and release journal papers, choosing to sound the alarm as quickly as possible with fast-paced academic articles and public appeals.
“We need to understand, and decision makers need to understand, that the window of opportunity to take action is very, very narrow. And it’s closing rapidly,” Bronstein said.
The first step, needed in the coming weeks, is to establish “broodstock populations” that will eventually help repopulate and reintroduce the black sea urchins into the region. But the surviving sea urchins that could be used to do so are themselves under threat.
“[The mass mortality] is currently occurring south of Turkey and Greece, but it is making its way down along the eastern Mediterranean coastline, towards Syria, Lebanon, and Israel. Once it gets there, we probably will have pretty much closed our window of opportunity to take action,” Bronstein said.
Bronstein said he’s been in constant contact with government agencies as well as other researchers in the region.
Israel shares the gulf with Jordan, Egypt and Saudi Arabia, with which it has no formal relations. But underwater there is no such thing as politics, and Bronstein said international cooperation will be key to fixing this issue.
“It is our mandate, it is our responsibility to make sure that we do everything that we can to make sure these reefs, these unique reefs, probably the most unique coral reef in the world, it is our responsibility to make sure that they will remain here for future generations,” Bronstein said.
by tyler | Jun 1, 2023 | CNN, middleeast
Jordan’s heir to the throne on Thursday married into one of Saudi Arabia’s prominent business families in a glitzy ceremony attended by international royals and heads of state.
From Britain’s Prince and Princess of Wales to US first lady Jill Biden, nearly 140 guests arrived at Zahran Palace in the Jordanian capital Amman to watch 28-year-old Crown Prince Hussein bin Abdullah II and his fiancée Rajwa Alseif tie the knot.
A 29-year-old Saudi architect and a graduate of Syracuse University in New York, Alseif will be known as Her Royal Highness the Crown Princess of Jordan and, when the Crown Prince takes the throne, her title will change to Queen Rajwa.
The bride is related to Saudi Arabia’s crown prince and de facto ruler, Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), through her mother, who hails from the prominent Al-Sudairi family.
Saudi Arabia’s King Salman is one of the so-called “Sudairi Seven,” the seven full brothers born to King Abdulaziz and Hussa bint Ahmed Al-Sudair, according to Saudi media reports.
The event began by 9:00 AM (ET), when Jordan’s king and queen began receiving guests at the Zahran Palace. Jordan’s armed forces played music as attendees arrived to greet and congratulate the royal family.
The event then moved to a gazebo in the palace garden, where the couple and their fathers signed the marriage contract in an Islamic ceremony known as “Katb Al-Kitab” and exchanged rings.
Outside the palace, jubilant crowds cheered and waved flags as they awaited the motorcade carrying the newlyweds along a six-mile route across the capital. Streets had been adorned for days with photos of the couple and the Jordanian flag.
Both Jordan and Saudi Arabia are among Washington’s strongest Middle East allies. Jordan is custodian of Muslim and Christian holy sites in Jerusalem and maintains a relationship with both Palestinians and Israelis. A global oil powerhouse, Riyadh’s ties with the US have been strained of late, namely over the kingdom’s oil policies and its relationship with Russia.
Ties between Saudi Arabia and Jordan have recently thawed after years of tension. During a trip to Jordan last year, MBS was quoted by Saudi media as saying that he was keen to “push relations [with Jordan] to a new phase.”
by tyler | Jun 1, 2023 | CNN, middleeast
The palm trees that line the roads in this desert city near the Dead Sea have been famous for millennia: “The plain of the Valley of Jericho, the city of palm trees,” as written in Deuteronomy in the Old Testament.
The Palestinian city’s beauty, archaeological sites, and history – with claims as one of oldest cities in the world, and the lowest below sea level – have long made it a staple on the international tourist circuit. It’s also home to weekend villas for many wealthy Palestinians.
Until earlier this year, Jericho was considered one of the quietest parts of the Israel-occupied West Bank where residents were more likely to encounter a tourist than an Israeli soldier.
Now parts of the city, especially the Aqabat Jaber refugee camp, are seeing decor more common in restive areas of the West Bank like Jenin or Nablus: Posters commemorating the “martyrdom” of locals killed by – as the Israeli military is described here – “occupation forces.” Bullet holes dot some of the homes. Nine people have been killed so far this year.
Aqabat Jaber refugee camp houses thousands of Palestinians who have lived there since fleeing or being evicted from their homes in 1948 during Israel’s founding. Israeli security forces say that there has been an increase in “terrorist activity” in the camp since the beginning of this year and that they are acting off “precise intelligence” to prevent future attacks.
One American-Israeli, 27-year old Elan Ganeles, was killed in a shooting attack just outside Jericho in February. Weeks earlier, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said militants tried to open fire at a nearby Israeli restaurant but their gun malfunctioned in the process.
To people like 10-year-old Rinad Hamdan, that’s a tough explanation to swallow.
Her brother, 22-year-old Mahmoud Hamdan, was killed on March 1 during an Israeli incursion to arrest those who had killed Ganeles. Sitting in her family’s living room as tears fall from her eyes, the younger Hamdan speaks beyond her years as her mother strokes her face. Giant banners with photos of Mahmoud line the outside of their house, and inside framed photos are everywhere.
“I don’t know what to do when I hear gunshots,” Rinad says. “I just leave it to God. I’m now used to it because the soldiers always come to the camp.”
Hamdan’s family says he was heading home from work when he was caught up in the Israeli incursion and shot. An IDF statement at the time said their forces shot “an operative attempting to flee the residence where the terrorists were located.” However, after an inquiry from CNN about Hamdan’s case, the IDF says that the incident is “under examination.”
As the head of the refugee camp’s community committee, Jamal Awadat is on the front line – not only of this violence but also the long-term deprivation of basic services caused by a months-long strike by Palestinian workers of United Nations programs, compounding the issues brought on by the Israeli military actions.
“The killing that you are practicing will not bring you any security in any way,” Awadat says. “The killing will create rebels. When you kill someone that has four brothers, one of them will want revenge.”
Awadat does not doubt that the young people around him are upset and restive. But that does not, he says, make them the terrorist threat that Israel claims they are.
“Those are youth that saw what is happening in the country – in Jenin, Nablus and in Palestine in general – so they decided to be rebellious,” Awadat says, referring to other cities that have seen a dramatic increase in new militant movements and deadly Israeli military raids.
The militant group Hamas claimed five of the nine killed in this refugee camp this year as their fighters. There is currently no indication that the other four, including two teenagers, were members of a militant group.
An IDF official tells CNN their forces have to enter the camp because of “several warnings of terrorist attacks.”
“Has this caused more people to be attracted to terrorism? We are acting with precise intelligence, our security interest is that those who do not engage in terrorism continue their lives in a routinely manner,” the official says.
Jibril Al-Aarda was asleep at home, his mother recounts, when gunshots rang out in the street. The 17-year-old heard that his cousin had been injured, ran outside to see what happened and was shot in the head, she says.
“How should I be feeling after losing one of my children? Something in the house is missing,” Jibril’s mother, known as Um Jibril, says as she tears up talking about the last time she saw him. “I miss him in every corner, in everything I do there is something missing, may God bless his soul.”
The IDF said in their statement at the time that during an arrest raid, “armed suspects fired at the soldiers, who responded with live fire. Hits were identified.” When asked by CNN about Jibril’s specific situation, the IDF responded – similarly to Hamdan’s case – that the events are “under examination.”
Um Jibril says her younger son has already been imprisoned once by Israeli authorities and that her older son is being held in prison on what’s called “administrative detention” – a controversial Israeli military procedure that allows authorities to hold detainees on security grounds, often for years. Photos and posters of both sons dominate the immaculately clean living room.
“We were never used to soldiers in the camp, they are now invading the camp every two or three days and terrorizing people.”
She denies having any knowledge of militants in the camp.
“This allegation is not true, our children are just kids. When you come to someone with a weapon and want to shoot at him his normal reaction will be throwing a stone – that will not harm the army,” Um Jibril says.
For weeks at a time this year, Israeli forces have set up checkpoints into and out of the city of Jericho, causing hours-long back-ups and effectively blockading the population of 25,000. An IDF official told CNN this was because “there was real intelligence about an attack that was planned to come out of this area, so what they had to do was make sure there were no terrorists leaving the city with weapons.”
It had a devastating impact on the city’s economy, Jericho’s mayor Abdul-Karim Sedir tells CNN. Not only did internal and external tourism drop, but everything from waste management to farmers’ harvests were impacted, costing the city $100 million in lost revenue this year alone.
While Sedir acknowledges there may be wanted militants in the camp, he urges the Israelis to rethink their strategy.
“The city is very quiet, and people don’t really understand why this is happening. Maybe there was a wanted person, but the reality is not the way they try to exaggerate it,” he says. “This killing every day and injuries and arrests escalates the situation and increases the number of resistance fighters; if Israel thinks that those collective punishment measures will reduce the number of resistance fighters, they are mistaken.”
Sedir says he fears that Jericho, known as the “city of the moon,” will lose its reputation as a calm oasis in the desert.
“Of course, I’m afraid, if the blockades continue during the next Eid holiday at the end of June, there will be an exodus of investors from Jericho and a large number of resistance fighters will be born which will transfer the city to a different rank.”
