Israeli forces predawn Thursday detained 28 Palestinians in multiple raids across the occupied West Bank, according to local and security sources.
They said that Israeli forces rounded up 15 Palestinians, including at least five teens, from al-Mughayyir village, northeast of the city of Ramallah.
The gun-toting soldiers rounded up two others and ransacked the houses of their families in the nearby town of Kafr Malik.
A convoy of army vehicles stormed al-Bireh city, where the soldiers ransacked a mosque and detained three brothers.
In the northern West Bank, the sources confirmed a raid in Nur Shams refugee camp, east of Tulkarm, resulting in the detention of three others.
Still in the northern West Bank, the heavily-armed soldiers showed up at two houses in the Nablus city neighborhood of al-Masaken al-Sha‘biyya, broke inside, conducted thorough search and eventually detained two others.
They also forcibly entered a house in the Nablus city neighborhood of al-Nur, ransacked it and detained another.
In the Jordan Valley, soldiers manning a checkpoint at the southern entrance of Jericho city stopped and detained another.
The detainee was identified as a resident of Aqabat Jaber refugee camp, southwest of the city.
In the southern West Bank, the forces detained another from Hebron city and ransacked his family house, turning it upside down.
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.
(WAFA)
