Israeli forces predawn Monday detained 24 Palestinians from various parts of the occupied West Bank, according to local and security sources.
They said that Israeli forces rounded up eight Palestinians from Aqabat Jabr refugee camp, adjacent to the occupied West Bank city of Jericho.
In the southern West Bank, the gun-toting soldiers detained three Palestinians from Bethlehem district.
One of the detainees was identified as a resident of Beit Fajjar, south of Bethlehem, another as a resident of Tuqu‘ town, southeast of the city, and the other as a resident of the city.
Elsewhere in the southern West Bank, the sources confirmed a raid in Ad-Dhahiriya city, southwest of Hebron, resulting in the detention of eight others.
In Ramallah district, a convoy of army vehicles stormed Beit Rima town, where the soldiers detained another.
The heavily-armed soldiers showed up at a house in Silwad town, broke inside, conducted thorough search and eventually re-arrested a former prisoner.
In the northern West Bank, the soldiers conducted a raid in Balata refugee camp, leading to the detention of another, a woman.
In Jenin district, the soldiers forcibly entered a house in Deir Abu Da‘if village, northeast of Jenin, tempered with its contents and eventually detained another.
Soldiers manning a checkpoint close to Silat al-Harithiya town, west of Jenin, stopped and detained a resident of Jaba‘ town, south of the city.
On Sunday evening, police detained another from Al Sadiya neighborhood in the Old City of Jerusalem.
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)
