RAMALLAH, Friday, July 01, 2022 (WAFA) – Israeli forces Friday overnight and Thursday evening detained six Palestinians from various parts of the West Bank, according to local and security sources.
They said that Israeli forces showed up at a house in Askar refugee camp, close to Nablus city, and re-arrested a former prisoner.
In Jenin district, the gun-toting soldiers forcibly entered a house in al-Yamun town, west of the city, conducted a thorough search and detained a resident.
In the southern West Bank, the sources confirmed a raid in Ad-Dhahiriya city, south of Hebron, resulting in the detention of two others.
On Thursday evening, Israeli police rounded up two Palestinians from Jerusalem; one from the vicinity of Bab al-Rahma prayer area inside Al-Aqsa Mosque compound and the other after stopping his vehicle in Silwan.
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.
