Tensions remain high at the Shuafat checkpoint after the death of an Israeli soldier Monday night from stab wounds inflicted by a Palestinian child and bullet wounds mistakenly fired by another Israeli guard at him.
On Wednesday morning, hundreds of the Shuafat refugee camp residents missed work as Israeli forces imposed significant delays at the checkpoint. Children whose schools are on the other side of the checkpoint also returned home after waiting in vain to cross.
Videos on social media showed Israeli soldiers assaulting several Palestinians at the checkpoint. One of the videos showed Israeli soldiers attacking a young man and woman for no apparent reason. Another video showed an Israeli soldier kicking a child waiting to cross the checkpoint.
On Tuesday, an Israeli soldier pulled a young Palestinian woman by her headscarf and then pushed her to the ground. The incident happened while Israeli soldiers were at the camp entrance and ordering everyone to keep away.
The young woman was 17-year-old Malak Isseide, a high-school student walking home after school. Malak told TNA that she suffered bruises after
Israeli soldiers beat her.
"They pointed their guns at me...one soldier threatened to shoot me," Malak said.
Last week, the Israeli government, in response to the car-ramming attack in Ramot in the occupied West Bank that killed three Israelis, including two children, announced it would authorize nine Jewish settlement outposts in the West Bank.
The announcement prompted a joint response by the foreign ministers of France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
"We strongly oppose these unilateral actions which will only serve to exacerbate tensions between Israelis and Palestinians and undermine efforts to achieve a negotiated two-state solution," the statement read.
The PLO also condemned the Israeli settlement announcement as an "open war on the Palestinian people."