Israel orders Palestinian carpenter to shut his business in Hebron

Israeli occupation forces today ordered a Palestinian carpentry store owner in the Old City of Hebron to close and evacuate his business by 9 May, reported Wafa news agency.

Director of Hebron Reconstruction Committee, Imad Hamdan, told Wafa that soldiers stormed the carpentry owned by Abdul Mahdi Abu Eisheh, seized the shop’s keys and threatened to remove him by force if he fails to leave with his equipment by 9 May.

It comes after Israeli occupation settlers last month demolished five Palestinian shops in the Old City of the southern West Bank city of Hebron, under the full protection of Israeli occupation forces.

Israeli settler attacks on Palestinian properties have increased in recent years, with occupation forces protecting the attackers and arresting Palestinians who try to protect their land.

Imad believes this is the first step to turning the 70 Palestinian shops in Hebron’s Old City over to settlers.

Israeli attacks on Palestinians in Hebron have increased over the years in an effort to evict the indigenous population to make way for illegal settlements. The city of Hebron has an estimated total population of 200,000 inhabitants. Approximately 40,000 Palestinians live in the Old City. Around 400-850 hardline illegal Israeli settlers also reside in the centre of the city; an additional 8,000 settlers reside in the illegal Kiryat Arba settlement, on the outskirts of Hebron.

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