CPTnet
25 January 2013
PALESTINE: Foreign troops “train” on Palestinian fields
On 22 January in Masafer Yatta, the area declared “Firing
Zone 918″ by the Israel military, where about 1000 people live, the atmosphere
was tense and uncertain.
 |
|
| photo courtesy Operation Dove |
According to two international volunteers of Operation Dove who were visiting
families in the villages, on 21 January more than one hundred Israeli soldiers pitched
their tents outside the military base camp, in front of Jinba village. In
addition, they set up camp between Jinba and Mirkez villages (about one
kilometer apart), where they started to conduct military exercises, damaging
Palestinian fields.
When the internationals asked the soldiers the reason for
their presence in an inhabited area, they replied that they were planning to use
the area for training for at least a week.
The soldiers’ presence is restricting the free movement
of the shepherds and their families. Moreover, their deafening exercises are
affecting the residents, who feel unsafe and vulnerable.
