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by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC & Agencies

The Jerusalem District Court ordered five Palestinian youth from the Beit Safafa town, in occupied East Jerusalem, under house arrest for five days.

The five have been identified as Bara’ Ibrahim Khattab, Mohammad Maher Oleyyan, Daoud Khaled Oleyyan, Mohammad Ibrahim Salman and Mohammad Yousef Al-Barq.

Head of the Engineering Committee in Beit Safafa, Abdul-Karim Lafi, told the Palestine News & Info Agency (WAFA) that Israeli soldiers surrounded the protest tent that was installed two weeks ago to protest the construction of settler road #4 in the town, broke into it and kidnapped the five youths.

The army claims that the youths hurled stones at the bulldozers working at the scene.

On Sunday February 10; Israeli soldiers and policemen violently attacked a nonviolent protest against the settlement road being built on Palestinian lands in Beit Safafa, injured two Palestinians and kidnapped two others.

Dozens of residents, including Arab member of Knesset Dr. Ahmad Tibi, participated in the protest and formed human chains in an attempt to stop the bulldozers from uprooting and bulldozing the lands for the construction of the settlement road.

Dr. Tibi said that Beit Safafa is facing a renewed assault by Israel, and that the Israeli government only wants to serve the settlers and build roads for them at the expense of the Palestinians in Beit Safafa, and in the rest of occupied Jerusalem.

Engineer Abdul-Karim Lafi, member of the Engineering Committee in Beit Safafa, stated that the residents reject the Israeli plan that aims at the illegal confiscation of 250 Dunams of their lands for the benefit of an 80-meter settler highway that extends for 1600 meters.

Beit Safafa resident, Majida Sobhi, stated that Israel started working on the new road approximately 5 months ago, and that when completed, the residents will start facing further difficulties as they will have to take alternate extended bypass roads whenever they enter or leave the town especially since this new highway will split their town.