IDF uses inhabited Palestinian villages as a military playground

Israeli soldiers raiding Jinba on August 7, 2012. (Photo: B'tselem/Haaretz)
By Allison Deger (Mondoweiss)

On the heels of demolition orders to clear eight Palestinian villages for a military training field in the Hebron Hills, masked Israeli soldiers descended from helicopters and raided one of the still inhabited towns. Amira Hass reported in Haaretz on August 7, 2012:

Two Israel Air Force helicopters landed soldiers on Tuesday in Jinba, an isolated village inhabited by cave dwellings in the southern West Bank. It is one of eight villages slated for demolition according to Defense Minister Ehud Barak’s plan to allow the military to resume its training in the area, known as Firing Zone 918.

According to reports by the residents, the helicopters landed and took off at the site six times, each time carrying soldiers. The soldiers erected a command center in a tent outside the village, and two jeeps and a Hummer parked next to the tent.

The soldiers, who were masked and armed, raided the village, photographed and mapped the cave dwellings, the tents and the structures, and made extensive searches while causing property damage, the residents said. The soldiers also emptied out the contents of closets and poured out jugs of milk and cream.

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