RAMALLAH, Wednesday, June 01, 2022 (WAFA) – Israeli forces Wednesday detained 14 Palestinians, including five minors, mostly in overnight raids across the West Bank, according to local and security sources.
They said that Israeli forces rounded up and physically assaulted four minors, all aged 13, from Ras Karkar village, northwest of Ramallah.
The soldiers detained two others after breaking into and ransacking their houses in al-Midya village, west of Ramallah.
Still in Ramallah district, gun-toting soldiers barged their way into Beit Sira village and detained another.
They also showed up at a house in Beit Liqya village, southwest of the city, muscled inside and conducted a thorough search, turning the house upside down.
In the southern West Bank, the military vehicles stormed Beit Fajjar town, south of Bethlehem, where the soldiers rounded up two others, including a 15-year-old minor.
In the northern West Bank, the sources confirmed a raid in Urif village, south of Nablus, resulting in the detention of another.
Meanwhile, gun-toting soldiers detained four others from Huwara town, south of Nablus.
The detentions were made as the Israeli military provided protection to settlers who attempted to remove Palestine flags hoisted on electrical poles in the main street.
This came as heavily-armed soldiers manning a checkpoint near Tulkarm stopped and detained a resident of Jenin refugee camp.
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.
K.F.
