In the Amari refugee camp on the West Bank, four men drink tea in a cafe on a break from work.
There is a deck of cards and a hookah on the table.
One of the men looks for a picture on his phone. In it, a young man is leaning on a motorcycle.
– The Israeli special forces always come before dawn, when people are sleeping. Even today they took the young man, says Yousef.
The Mista’arvim forces that conduct the raids are made up of Israeli soldiers who speak fluent Arabic. They blend into the street scene of Länsiranta.
The men in the cafe tell how the Israeli special forces sneak into the camp in the early hours of the night, break into one of the apartment buildings and arrest the suspects.
Destinations are known in advance.
Many bystanders died in the raids
Israel says it only arrests extremists, but many children and civilians have been killed and arrested in the raids.
In connection with Israeli raids, nearly 400 people have died and approx 7,000 arrested in early October after in the West Bank, the organization that follows the arrests of Palestinians counts.
Spies leak information
– Special forces get information from spies. There are Palestinians in the camp who leak information for money or because they are forced to, Yousef says.
In the alleys of the Amari refugee camp, there are pictures of dead Palestinians and graffiti of Israeli soldiers.
The Amari refugee camp was established in 1949, when the majority of Palestinians fled from the territory of present-day Israel.
Refugeeship is part of the Palestinian identity. On the walls of the cafe are pictures of the Palestinians fleeing their homes in 1948–1949.
Palestinians oppose the Israeli occupation, which makes life miserable in many ways.
Numerous slogans and photographs decorate the narrow streets and alleys of Amari.
The poster of the extremist organization Hamas has the face of a young man.
She is Muhammad Jibril as Rumma. An 18-year-old boy who was shot dead by Israeli soldiers last September shortly before the Gaza war.
We ask the boys playing in the street where the family might live. The boys quickly lead us to the right house.
We meet the boy’s father, Jibril Rummanan. The television in the living room reports on the ruins of Gaza in the background.
– The Israeli soldiers should not have killed him, but they do not know mercy. They could have shot in the air or at the foot. They murdered him.
Jibril is grief-stricken and bitter. According to him, Muhammad would have survived if Israel had sent first aid to the scene sooner.
Muhammad had just turned 18.
– Muhammad was religious and helpful. Fun and liked. Good boy. One day I will meet him in heaven.
This photo was sent by Israel for identification of the body. Israel has not released the body for burial.
Jibril went to pray at the place where Israeli soldiers shot his son.
In September, Jibril lost his son (left) and in December his son-in-law (right) was killed in an Israeli raid.
Jibril says Muhammad was protesting when he was shot. At that time, a large protest strike was organized on the Länsiranta. Israeli soldiers shot him near the settlement of Psagot, which is near Ramallah, the main city of the West Bank.
– He participated in the resistance against the Israeli occupation. Like so many others here. He was still never involved in armed resistance, Jibril assures his son.
So Muhammad was at the demonstration. It is known for sure, but there are different versions of what happened at the time of the shooting.
According to Palestinian sources, Muhammad and his friends were in the carwhen Israeli soldiers opened fire.
Jibril shows a picture of Muhammad’s wounded friend on his phone.
– He survived, but can’t walk. I’m going to see him at the hospital.
Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967, when it seized the area from Jordan.
The West Bank is officially run by the Palestinian Authority, but Israel controls the area’s security and many other activities.
There are fenced Israeli settlements in different parts of the West Bank. At least 700,000 Israelis live in them.
Contrary to international law, Israel has continued to expand settlements. The settlements practically prevent the creation of a unified Palestinian state.
Israel has not returned the body
Even months after the event, Israel has not returned Muhammad’s body for burial. The family has only received a photograph to identify the body.
– They didn’t even give us clothes. I only have Muhammad’s headdress. It is dear to me. It is a symbol of hope that Palestine will one day be free.
In 2017, Israel officially decided that it could confiscate the bodies of Palestinians and return them much later – but the bodies of Hamas and other terrorist organizations would never be released.
It is unclear whether Muhammad belonged to Hamas. According to the father, no: neither to Hamas nor to any other extremist movement.
Action related to resistance from sensitive natures
In the West Bank, it is common for an organization to claim a Palestinian killed by the Israeli army or settler radicals. After that, the organization distributes posters of the deceased, the so-called martyr.
– Hamas owns him. He participated in the resistance independently and supported all movements participating in the resistance. He did not participate in armed resistance.
The father himself says that he supports all movements that oppose the Israeli occupation, but does not participate in armed resistance.
In general, families who are actively involved in Hamas’s armed or other activities do not want to tell a foreign reporter about it in an extremely tense security situation.
The young son-in-law died in the raid
The losses of the Rummana family are an example of the heavy price that families participating in the resistance to the Israeli occupation pay in the West Bank.
On the TV level, a large photo reminds us of losses. Another young man is smiling next to the dead Muhammad.
– That’s my son-in-law, my daughter’s husband, Ibn Adil. He was killed in an Israeli raid two weeks ago.
Jibril shows a shocking picture from his phone. There Adili is lying dead on the floor. He has a big injury in his neck.
– When the soldiers came at night, Ibn went behind the door to listen. The soldiers blew open the door and the lock was thrown around his neck. He died immediately, Jibril says.
Raid just a couple of days ago
Jibril’s eldest son, 22-year-old Jahid, is in prison in Israel. He was arrested in a night raid just a few days ago.
Jibril and Jahid live with their families in the same house, but on different floors.
– They blew up our gate and pointed a gun and kicked me when I opened the door.
Jibril does not know why Jahid was arrested.
Many in prisons without charges
Before the Gaza war, there were approximately 4,700 prisoners held for security reasons in Israeli prisons. About 1,300 of them are in prison without charge.
According to the Israeli human rights organization B’tselem, the Israeli army may imprison personswho are not suspected of crimes.
It is enough that there is a suspicion that the detainees might commit crimes in the future. The arrested person or their relatives do not even need to be told the reason for the arrest.
Imprisonment can continue for years.
– Six of my close relatives are in prison: my son, my brother, two nieces and two nephews. My brother has been killed.
A 47-year-old could tell you about the conditions in Israeli prisons Asmat Mansour. He was a prisoner for twenty years. But he doesn’t say much.
– Israeli prisons are extremely harsh for Palestinians. I don’t want to say more than that.
Mansour was released ten years ago as part of a major prisoner exchange.
Mansour does not want to talk about the incident, but according to public sources, the men’s intention was to kidnap Mizrachi. However, Mizrachi resisted in the hijacking situation and was killed by the men who were with Mansour. Mansour was convicted of complicity in the murder.
Mansour says he was at that time of the Marxist resistance movement member. He still says he is a leftist, but does not participate in the activities of the party and the resistance movement.
Sen Mansour says about prisons that Palestinian resistance leaders network in Israeli prisons. For example, Israel’s number one target in Gaza, the Hamas leader Yahia Sinwarwas in prison with Mansour.
– Palestinian leaders and future leaders gather in prisons. For the Palestinians, the prisoners are role models. They are people who have given their lives to achieve national goals.
Hamas support has skyrocketed
Today, Mansour calls himself a political expert and prefers to talk about the war in Gaza and the West Bank, not his imprisonment.
It is clear from Mansour that support for Hamas in the West Bank has plummeted since the start of the Gaza war. This is usually the case with Israel’s military operations in Gaza.
– People do not necessarily like the ideology or religion of Hamas. They support Hamas at this moment because they feel that Hamas is defending the Palestinians against Israeli aggression.
Another reason for Hamas’s support is the weakness of the Palestinian Authority and its leaders in the West Bank.
– The Palestinian Authority is weak and corrupt. It has failed to stop the expansion of settlements or the violence of settler radicals.
The danger is the radicalization of the youth
The head of the Palestinian Authority, which runs the West Bank Mahmoud Abbas instead, many young Palestinians now admire Hamas leaders, such as Yahia Sinwar, who is believed to be behind the Hamas terror attack.
According to Mansour, the third reason for Hamas’s support is the Israeli administration’s statements about the West Bank.
– The Israeli government openly says that there will never be a two-state model. It says that the settlements must be expanded. The battle for the West Bank is becoming more and more open, says Mansour.
– That’s what we fear here.