RAMALLAH, Israeli forces Thursday overnight detained 20 Palestinians in multiple raids across the occupied West Bank, according to local and security sources.
They said that Israeli forces rounded up two Palestinians; a former prisoner along with a 13-year-old minor, and ransacked the houses of their families in Beit Sira village, west of the city of Ramallah.
They also re-arrested another former prisoner from Beit Rima town, northwest of the city.
They conducted a similar raid in al-Mughayyir village, northeast of the city, leading to the detention of another.
In the southern West Bank, the sources confirmed a raid in Aida refugee camp, north of Bethlehem, resulting in the detention of another.
To the south of Bethlehem, a convoy of army vehicles stormed al-Fawwar refugee camp, south of Hebron, where the heavily-armed soldiers forcibly entered several houses and detained at least seven others; a member of al-Azzeh family along with his three sons and three brothers.
In the northern West Bank, dozens of soldiers barged their way into several neighborhoods of Nablus city, entered several houses, woke up all the residents, turned the houses topsy-turvy, and eventually detained four others.
To the north of Nablus district, the soldiers showed up at a house in Jenin city, muscled inside, conducted a thorough search and detained another.
Soldiers manning a checkpoint near the entrance of the village of Kufeirit, west of the city, stopped and rounded up two others from Ya‘bad town.
Israeli forces frequently raid Palestinian houses almost on a daily basis across the West Bank on the pretext of searching for “wanted” Palestinians, triggering clashes with residents.
These raids, which take place also in areas under the full control of the Palestinian Authority, are conducted with no need for a search warrant, whenever and wherever the military chooses in keeping with its sweeping arbitrary powers.
Under Israeli military law army commanders have full executive, legislative and judicial authority over 3 million Palestinians living in the West Bank. Palestinians have no say in how this authority is exercised.
According to the latest figures from Addameer, the Palestinian Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association, there are currently 4,700 Palestinian political prisoners in Israeli prisons and detention centers, including 190 children and 30 female prisoners.
This number includes approximately 800 Palestinians placed under “administrative detention”, that allows the detention of Palestinians without charge or trial for renewable intervals ranging between three and six months based on undisclosed evidence that even a detainee’s lawyer is barred from viewing.
Mass arrest of Palestinians is nothing new. According to a 2017 report by Addameer, over the past 50 years, more than 800,000 Palestinians have been imprisoned or detained by Israel, this figure is now believed to be closer to 1 million. This means that about 40% of Palestinian men and boys living under military occupation have been deprived of their freedom. Almost every Palestinian family has suffered the imprisonment of a loved one.
Source: Palestine News & Info Agency