RAMALLAH, Israeli forces Wednesday overnight detained 14 Palestinians in multiple West Bank raids, according to local and security sources.

They said that Israeli forces showed up at a house in al-Bireh city, muscled inside and re-arrested a former prisoner who spent 18 years in Israeli custody.

The gun-toting soldiers re-arrested another former prisoner after breaking into and searching his family house in Jalazone refugee camp, north of Ramallah city.

The sources confirmed that two others were detained from Ramallah district; a former prisoner from Beit Rima town, northwest of the city, and a resident of Silwad town, east of the city.

In Jerusalem district, the soldiers forcibly entered and searched a house in the town of Qatanna, northwest of the city, and eventually detained another.

In the southern West Bank, the sources confirmed a raid in al-Azza refugee camp, also known as Beit Jibrin camp, north of Bethlehem, leading to re-arresting a former prisoner.

The soldiers conducted another raid in Husan town, west of the city, resulting in the detention of another a resident.

They showed up at a family house in the middle of the night in Beit Sahour city, east of Bethlehem, woke up all the family members, went inside, smashed some of the windows and turned it upside down.

In the northern West Bank, a convoy of army vehicles stormed the Nablus city neighborhoods of Ras al-Ein and Tell Street, where the soldiers re-arrested two former prisoners.

In Jenin district, a sizable army force, comprising some 70 army vehicles and a bulldozer, barged its way into Jenin refugee camp, with snipers deployed on rooftops of residential buildings.

During ensuing confrontations, the snipers fired concussion and tear gas bombs as well as live ammunition at local young men protesting the raid, causing dozens to suffocate from tear gas.

The soldiers ultimately detained three men, including a former prisoner, and led them to the jeeps.

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 4,650 Palestinian political prisoners in Israeli prisons and detention centers, including 180 children and 30 female prisoners.

This number includes approximately 650 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