IOF Troops Storm Two Charities, Confiscate Property

26 February 2008

AL-KHALIL, (PIC)-- IOF soldiers stormed at dawn Tuesday the premises of two Islamic charities in Al-Khalil city, confiscated their property and arrested the employees.

Sources close to those societies told PIC correspondent that the soldiers burst into the two headquarters and wreaked havoc inside them.

The commander of the invading unit ordered the confiscation of buses and vehicles that serve students who study in those societies' schools and kindergartens.

Both societies were the frequent target of similar attacks at the hands of the Israeli occupation forces and their staffers were also detained on previous occasions.

The IOF command ordered closure of the two societies, which threaten the future of thousands of orphans and poor students who study in their schools, in addition to stripping their teachers and the administrative staff of their sole source of income.

The societies in addition to running schools and orphanages provide charity to many poor families and are regarded as two of the biggest charities in Palestine.

Sources close to Hamas Movement in Al-Khalil described the IOF closure of those two societies as a "disaster", warning the IOA that such a decision would eliminate the sustenance of many orphans and staffers.

The sources charged that the decision came in harmony with the unconstitutional government of Salam Fayyad's "war on charities" where many were closed or had their bank accounts frozen.

In another atrocity, IOF soldiers rounded up 8 Palestinians in various West Bank areas at dawn Tuesday at the pretext of being wanted for interrogation.