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.

More photos