Palestinian: Troops moved into my home
What would you do if six soldiers moved into your living room and were using your bathroom? Palestinian villager says that’s what happened to him. Army defends ‘routine activity’
“Soldiers took over my house. They sat in the living room and are using my bathroom,” Ayed Abu-Dibs, a resident of Yata, south of Hebron, told Ynet. “I have children. What am I supposed to do when six solders occupy my home?”
The IDF confirmed that soldiers had “settled” in a house belonging to a Palestinian family. “It was part of a routine operation in the West Bank. The family was held over night, so that it does not uncover troops, who will be leaving the house soon,” read a statement issued by the IDF Spokesperson’s office.
Troops bring their own food
In a phone call with Ynet overnight the father described how soldiers entered his house at 11 p.m. “Four of them are sleeping and another two are guarding. They confiscated the key to the main entrance and now I need their permission to get in and out of the house,” he said.
“I told them there is a holiday and they said ‘no problem we will celebrate together’,” he said, noting that the soldiers had brought food and water supplies and did not consume the family’s food.
Abou-Dibs said that the purpose of the stay remains unknown to him since recently he has not heard of arrest raids being conducted in the village.
“That’s the first time I hear this. Soldiers came from another house in the village and said they will be staying at my house for a week. What am I supposed to do? Ramadan is coming to an end soon and Id-el-Fitir will start,” he complained.
The IDF allows soldiers to occupy houses of Palestinian civilians under the ‘Widow Procedure.’ The procedure is usually applied to allow soldiers to monitor the movement of wanted Palestinian terrorists from neighboring houses.
The family is usually evacuated from the house to another location or assembled in one room inside the house. In May 2004 two IDF soldiers were shot dead when they were uncovered during a ‘Widow Procedure.’
Efrat Weiss and Hanan Greenberg contributed to the story
