Israeli occupation soldiers manhandled European diplomats and confiscated an aid truck carrying tents to homeless Palestinians in the West Bank on Friday
Israeli occupation soldiers manhandled European diplomats and confiscated an aid truck carrying tents to homeless Palestinians in the West Bank on Friday.
The incident took place in the northern Jordan Valley when Acted, a French humanitarian aid organization funded by the EU’s humanitarian arm, was stopped by Israeli occupation Forces soldiers near the hamlet of Kirbet Makhoul, home to about 100 Bedouin Palestinians, which the Zionist army bulldozed early last Monday.
Diplomats from France, the UK, Ireland, Spain Sweden, Greece, Australia, Brazil and the EU and the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs accompanied the convoy, which Israeli soldiers stopped on early Friday afternoon near the demolished hamlet.
A diplomat who was at the scene told the Financial Times that IOF soldiers blocked the aid from being delivered, confiscated the truck and forcibly removed a French diplomat, who he said “ended up on the ground”. Reuters quoted Marion Castain, the French diplomat, as saying: “They dragged me out of the truck and forced me to the ground with no regard for my diplomatic immunity.”
Sound grenades were detonated close to the group, witnesses said.
“We are reporting this to our capitals,” a diplomat said. “I can’t tell at this moment what the response might be. I think it’s a serious incident.”
Zionist military claimed the clash happened after Palestinian and foreign activists were prevented from “illegally erecting tents” in violation of a standing supreme court decision and objected, throwing stones and striking law enforcement officers.
“The IDF contained the violence with riot dispersal means, seized the tents and detained three Palestinians who instigated the activity,” an IOF spokeswoman said. “Reports that foreign diplomats abused their diplomatic privileges are being reviewed, and if required complaints will be filed with the relevant authorities.”
Residents say the hamlet’s 12 families were given no warning of the raid at 4:30am on Monday, and their houses are now mangled piles of metal. A kindergarten and animal pens were also destroyed in the operation. They say they were told they were being evicted because the area needed to be used for military training.
