Israeli army forces Hebron orphanage and shopping mall to shut

Orphanage charity closed, IDF claims links with Hamas

The Islamic Study Centre in the centre of Hebron is
a charity dedicated to the welfare and education of
orphans in Hebron, it boasts a library and a study
centre built into a shopping complex, and a school
with working transport.

However last Tuesday the IOF raided both the
shopping centre and the school. In the shopping centre
they blew the locks off the doors with live ammunition
and then confiscated computers, files, papers and other
equipment. They then went into the school and
confiscated everything including the chairs and tables
as well as four buses and a car. The High Commander
had drawn up a notice which explicitly stated that the
shopping centre will close on the 1st of May this year,
and anyone caught with a business open after this day
will face five years imprisonment. The allegation given
for this closure and invasion was that the orphanage
had links with Hamas and was training and
recruiting for them.

The whole shopping centre now faces closure and
many Palestinians will have no jobs. The shopping
centre also contained health care facilities for the
community including and orthopedic centre.

The commander kindly left some numbers that
Palestinians could appeal to if they felt this was unfair,
other than this the IOF said they feel that these facilities
pose “an unwarranted danger to the IDF and as such
cannot be allowed to remain open”.