Yossi Schwartz ISL (RCIT section in Israel/Occupied Palestine) 06.08.2026
Qalandia Refugee Camp is located north of Jerusalem. It has been under siege for the second day in a row. Residents of the camp testified on Thursday that ambulances and media teams were not allowed to enter it, and that people who tried to move inside it were detained for questioning. The Red Crescent said this morning that its teams had so far treated 10 people injured by military violence in the camp and evacuated several patients. The organization also said that during the night, the teams were prevented from entering the camp by order of the military. Even now, a number of patients remain who have not been reached.
The residents say that they were told that as part of the military orders imposed in the area, it is forbidden to leave their homes or return to them. During the operation, additional residents were arrested, families were detained, and mobile phones were confiscated. Residents of the camp said they were unable to contact some of the detainees and their condition was unknown. According to the testimonies, in the southern area near the Qalandia checkpoint, dirt embankments were stationed and hundreds of soldiers were deployed. Since the morning, security forces have demolished commercial stalls.
Yesterday, the army forces of war criminals launched a large-scale operation in the refugee camp. The Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) issued an expected statement to the camp’s residents, stating that the operation was directed against “terrorist elements, terrorist infrastructures, and the possession and trafficking of weapons.” The statement also emphasized that “the restrictions on movement and the resulting disruption of daily life are a direct result of terrorist activity.”
In reality, however, there was no anti-occupation activity in the camp, and it is hard not to understand that the repressive actions are part of Netanyahu and Katz’s election campaign steps for annexation and pushing for an Intifada that will give Israel the green light to butcher many civilians.
A spokesman for the Army of War Criminals said that the operation was intended to harm the ability of terrorist organizations to organize in the region. The army claimed that this was a “limited operation,” intended to reduce possible risk points ahead of the upcoming holidays. In other words, the Zionist army also admits that the curfew is not the result of acts of resistance, but rather because of the fear that there will be acts of resistance in the future.
A video filmed in Qalandia showed four soldiers with rifles pulling out beating a young man in the refugee camp. The video shows an exchange between the detainee and the soldiers. The soldiers then knock him to the ground, continuing to beat him.
The office of the governor of the Jerusalem district of the Palestinian Authority said that the forces were deployed in several neighborhoods in the refugee camp and carried out raids and arrests. According to the PA, 15 Palestinians were arrested, including one woman. It was also reported that three civilians were evacuated for medical treatment after being beaten by soldiers. According to the bureau, the operation in Qalandia was intended to “reshape the military and geographical reality of north Jerusalem in preparation for annexation.” According to Palestinian reports, one resident was arrested after trying to bring food into the camp.
When the Black Hundreds in Russia made pogroms against the Jews the working-class fighters defended the Jews. No one can expect the Jewish workers in Israel to defend the Palestinians. It is an aristocratic class that votes for the Likud.
Israel must be replaced by a democratic socialist state from the river to the sea! A state that will encourage the Palestinian refugees to return and the Jews who remain will have civil rights. The criminal leaders of the Zionist monster will face trials.