RAMALLAH, Israeli forces today detained 15 Palestinians, mostly in overnight raids across the West Bank, according to local and security sources.
They said that Israeli forces rounded up two Palestinians after breaking into and searching the houses of their families in Kafr Qaddum village, east of Tulkarm.
Gun-toting Israeli soldiers barged their way into the eastern neighborhood of Tulkarm city, forcibly entered at least three houses, conducted a thorough search and detained three others, including two former prisoners.
In Qalqiliya district, the soldiers detained another from Habla town, south of the northern West Bank city, and ransacked his family house, turning it upside down.
In Jerusalem, Israeli police detained a Palestinian and ransacked several houses in Silwan neighborhood.
They rounded up two minors from the Old City of Jerusalem.
In the southern West Bank, the sources confirmed a raid in Aida refugee camp, north of Bethlehem, resulting in the detention of another.
The soldiers showed up at a house in Bir al-Hummus area of Hebron, muscled inside and detained another.
A military force stormed al-Juwaya community, located on the outskirts of Masafer Yatta, south of Hebron, searched several dwellings and detained a local shepherd.
The Good Shepherd Collective, a collective of individuals and organizations dedicated to nonviolent resistance, said that the arrest of the shepherd came as part of the wider campaign by Israeli forces, who regularly target shepherds, as they make use of large swathes of local Palestinian land and often come into confrontation with settlers engaged in active colonization efforts.
It added that this arrest sends a threatening message to the communities of Masafer Yatta, eight of which face the existential threat of immediate, impending demolitions.
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 4,450 Palestinian political prisoners in Israeli prisons and detention centers.
This number includes approximately 530 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