Several Palestinians suffocate in Israeli army raid near Bethlehem

BETHLEHEM: Several Palestinians Wednesday evening suffocated an Israeli army raid in the village of Husan, west of the occupied West Bank city of Bethlehem, according to a local official. Rami Hamamra, who serves as the head of the Husan Village Council, said that Israeli occupation forces stormed the village, simultaneously while firing barrages of tear gas canisters and stun grenades towards the villagers' houses, particularly in the old part of the village, causing several to suffocate from excessive tear gas inhalation. All of the suffocation cases were treated at the scene. He added that the gun-toting soldiers fired a tear gas canister towards a villager's house, setting the periphery of the house on fire, which was eventually put out. Meanwhile, the occupation soldiers barged their way into the Nablus city neighbourhoods of Fata'er Street and al-Ta'awon and seized the recordings of surveillance cameras from a store. The occupation forces frequently conduct raids daily across the West Bank on the p retext of searching for 'wanted' Palestinians, triggering clashes with residents. These raids are conducted with no need for a search warrant, whenever and wherever the military chooses in keeping with its sweeping arbitrary powers. Under Israeli military law army commanders have full executive, legislative and judicial authority over 3 million Palestinians living in the West Bank. Palestinians have no say in how this authority is exercised. Source: Palestine News and Information Agency – WAFA