The villagers of Nabi Saleh today were confronted with a so far unknown highly powerful explosive device the Occupation forces used to intimidate the villagers and deter protests.
Israeli occupation forces today raided the village of Nabi Saleh with five military vehicles. They entered the village from the west and attacked the people of the village as they left the mosque after the Friday prayer. They tried to prevent people from gathering and leaving for their weekly marc which is organized in protest against the confiscation of approximately 4000 dunums of village lands. The villagers were prevented access to their land as the military fired barrages of tear gas, sound bombs and other weapons to attack the people and to disperse them.
Eye witnesses recount that the occupation forces were talking to the people of the village via loudspeakers in Hebrew – a language the people of Nabi Saleh donât understand. After that they exploded two devices at the entrance to the village. None of the witnesses had ever seen the devices before and explained that they were particularly powerful and detonated through an electric wiring system. Nobody in the village knows the reason for the detonation of these devices but they seem to be yet another piece of military equipment aimed at intimidating the population.
The eye witnesses also confirmed the presence of military vehicles stationed on a hill overlooking the village. People believe that these officers stationed on the hill top are the ones that ordered the Israeli attacks on the residents of the village. They may have been positioned there to monitor the functioning of the new experimental explosive devices. Israeli military often tests its latest âcrowd controlâ tools on the Palestinian people before selling them at high profits to governments around the world.
It is clear that today has shown yet another face of the repressive tactics used against the village of Nabi Saleh. Intimidation should now dissuade them from continuing to protest against the confiscation of land which they own.