Israel's military fires tear gas in Aida refugee camp following clashes

Our MEE contributor Yumna Patel just filed this report from Bethlehem.

BETHLEHEM - At 7pm, a number of teenagers from the Aida refugee camp in Bethlehem approached an unmanned watchtower along Israel’s separation wall, which wraps around Aida on two sides - and began lighting tires, wood and trash on fire. The fire reached almost to the top of the 9-metre tower.

Fifteen minutes later, two Israeli jeeps left the military base located on the eastern end of the camp and headed towards the engulfed tower. The teenagers saw the jeeps approach and began hurling rocks, prompting clashes to break out. The jeeps cornered the teenagers from the main road along the wall and into the alleyways of the camp, and began shooting gas to the middle of the camp.

“In 10 seconds, the jeeps fired around 50 or 60 rounds of tear gas,” Adham, a resident of the camp and eyewitness to the events, told MEE.

The jeeps then retreated back to the military base, refilled their supply of tear gas, and returned to the camp to shoot more gas canisters.

Adham estimated that more than 300 rounds of tear gas were fired into the camp over the course of an hour.

“This tear-gas isn’t normal. Something is different. It is stronger than usual, it stayed in the air for more than 2 hours,” Adham said.

He estimated that at least 12 people were taken to hospital, while several others were treated inside their homes.

Adham thinks the situation in the camp and in Palestine is going to stay like this for a while as a result of Trump’s announcement.

The events in Aida tonight came a month after Commissioner General for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) Pierre Krähenbühl delivered a speech saying that “health experts suggests residents of Bethlehem’s Aida camp are exposed to more tear gas than any other population surveyed globally.”

The Palestinian Red Crescent said they treated 20 people inside their homes in the camp, while 5 were evacuated to the hospital. The ages of those treated ranged from young children to the elderly. 

Yumna Patel is a freelance multimedia journalist based in Bethlehem. You can follow her on Twitter here: @yumna_patel

Akram Al-Wa'ra is a freelance videographer based in Bethlehem. You can follow him on Twitter here: @akramalwaara