ISRAELI FORCES MAINTAIN NEW CHECKPOINTS NEAR BETHLEHEM-AREA VILLAGE

Bethlehem, 10 Rabi’ul Awwal 1435/1 January 2015 (MINA) – Israeli forces have maintained new military checkpoints around the town of Husan near Bethlehem for the past two days, a local official told Ma’an.

Hassan Hamamreh, the head of the village’s local council, told Ma’an Israeli troops have been regularly closing the northern and western entrances of Husan and conducting search raids.

Israeli military vehicles have been deployed around the village and tents have been set up for soldiers near the checkpoint, Hamamreh said, Ma’an News Agency quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting.

He said the army accuses youths from the village of throwing Molotov cocktails at the entrance of the Betar Illit settlement, which Israel built illegally on the village’s lands.

Israeli troops have more than once in the past two days raided schools in the area, provoking locals, Hamamreh added.

Forces have detained three Palestinians from the village so far — Qadri Subhi Zaul, 28, Muhammad Abd al-Rahman Hamamreh, 18, and Mutaz Samih Hamamreh, 25. (T/P010/P3)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)