Extract from ABC News
Samah Shehadeh shrugs and speaks matter-of-factly when talking about her dead son.
"I'm proud. I'm full of pride that my son is following that path, thank God," she says.
"But parting is tough. Parting is tough."
Israel Defense Force (IDF) soldiers shot and killed Jihad Eshhada in the West Bank city of Tulkarem on November 6.
As a militant leader in the al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade, the 24-year-old had a target on his back, though the specifics of his alleged activities are not publicly known.
Video of the operation, which took place in the afternoon, shows several special forces soldiers ambushing Jihad's car in a refugee camp in the city.
The squad fired multiple rounds into the vehicle. Israel says a Hamas commander was in there too, and killed.
Raids like this have fuelled resentment in the city, and, since the Hamas-Israel war began last month, violence in the West Bank is at its highest levels in decades.
As the situation deteriorates, support for Hamas has increased here.
According to United Nations figures, about 200 Palestinians have been killed by the IDF or settlers in the territory since October 7.
It's estimated 50 of those have been in the Tulkarem district, including 26 in the densely populated refugee camp.
Meanwhile, the UN says four Israelis have been killed by Palestinians in the West Bank — one of them in Tulkarem.
Samah says she'd be happy if her youngest son, four-year-old Bilal, became a militant.
"That's how the Palestinian people are. Each home offers two or three martyrs. We're used to this," she says.
The fighters here are from Fatah, Hamas’s rival and the ruling power in the West Bank.
But in the past few weeks, the militant group's green flags have been a common sight at anti-occupation demonstrations and street parties sparked by the release of prisoners as part of a ceasefire deal — a nightly occurrence since last Friday.
"They put maybe 300 bullets in his car," says Jihad's uncle Nouraldein Ibrahim Eshhada, describing his nephew as a "freedom fighter".
"He wanted freedom for his people."
The IDF labels him a terrorist.
It says groups like the al-Aqsa Brigade — which is designated as a terrorist organisation by the European Union and United States — have been attacking its troops and are planning more violence.
"At the same time we're dealing with places that have a lack of governance. And those same groups are trying to turn these places into terror enclaves," IDF spokesman Adir Bonito said.
The Al-Aqsa Brigade has, over the past 20 years, killed dozens of people in attacks across Israel and the West Bank.
A November 14 poll by the West Bank-based Arab World for Research and Development claimed 87.7 per cent of people in that territory had a positive view of Hamas.
The sample size was 668 people across Gaza and the West Bank.
Hamas militants attacked Israel on October 7, killing an estimated 1,200 people and taking another 240 hostage.
The poll claimed 59.3 per cent of respondents in both Gaza and the West Bank supported the attack strongly, with a further 15.7 per cent of people supporting it somewhat.
The al-Aqsa Brigade associates itself with the Fatah party, Hamas's rival, but Samah says she's proud of what both organisations are doing.
"Yes, of course. Of course. Why shouldn't we be proud?"
Two local men accused of helping the Israeli hit squad that killed Jihad, were murdered, their deaths celebrated by a mob.
Their bodies were displayed on the street — something seldom seen in the West Bank since the Second Intifada, which began in 2000.
It's a sign of how much anger there is here.
The IDF's raids have enraged many in Tulkarem.
Buildings show the scars of gunfights and larger explosions.
Ahmad Mohammed Jayyousi's shop was destroyed when an IDF bulldozer ripped the front off it.
Meanwhile, a digger the IDF says was used to clear mines has damaged sewerage pipes.
"Hamas defends us and defends our land. We are happy [about that]," Ahmad says.
"Whatever happens, we are steadfast and we are with the resistance and there's nothing that will weaken our resolve and shake our steadfastness."
Nouraldein says the waving of Hamas flags in the street is a new thing for those in Tulkarem.
He says the organisation is "part of the Palestinian system", but he's not sure if people in the West Bank are actually behind it.
"The people here are not supporting Hamas, the people are against the occupation.
"They want freedom. They support people in Gaza."
West Bank cities like Tulkarem are already on edge, but with the war in Gaza likely about to resume they're bound to get even more dangerous.
No comments:
Post a Comment