HEBRON, Israeli forces predawn Wednesday detained at least ten Palestinians from various parts of the occupied West Bank, according to local and security sources.
Israeli forces rounded up two Palestinians from Beit Duqqu village, northwest of Jerusalem, and ransacked the houses of their families, turning them upside down.
Police showed up at a house in the Jerusalem neighborhood of al-Tur, broke inside, conducted thorough search and eventually rounded up another.
In the southern West Bank, a convoy of army vehicles stormed Beit Awwa town, southwest of Hebron, where the soldiers detained four others, including a father along with his son, and tampered with the contents of their houses.
In the northern West Bank, the sources confirmed a raid in Ya‘bad town, southwest of Jenin, triggering fierce confrontations.
The soldiers opened fire and tear gas canisters at local youths attempting to block their passage. There were no casualties nor detention cases.
Still in Jenin district, Israeli troops took over a Palestinian house in the nearby Tura ash-Sharqiya village, effectively imprisoning the occupants, to use it as military observation.
The soldiers conducted a similar raid in ‘Arrana village, northeast of the city, leading to the detention of two brothers, including a former prisoner.
In Nablus, the soldiers detained another in the course of fierce confrontations that broke out as a sizable army force escorted dozens of settlers into Joseph’s Tomb, located in the Palestinian-controlled area.
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 150 children and 34 female prisoners.
This number includes approximately 835 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