RAMALLAH, Thursday, July 21, 2022 (WAFA) – Israeli forces Thursday overnight detained 14 Palestinians, including a cancer-stricken patient, from various parts of the West Bank, according to local and security sources.
They said that Israeli forces re-arrested a former prisoner and ransacked his family house in Birzeit town, north of Ramallah.
The former prisoner was released just several months ago after serving a year and a half in administrative detention, a widely condemned Israeli practice 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.
Israeli forces also re-arrested a cancer-stricken former prisoner after forcibly entering and searching his family house in al-Bireh city.
During ensuing confrontations, the soldiers opened fire towards local young men attempting to block their passage, hitting two by live rounds in the foot.
The sources confirmed a similar raid in al-Mughayyir village, east of Ramallah, where the soldiers brutally assaulted and detained two brothers.
The soldiers also barged their way into Ramallah al-Tahta, a neighborhood of the city, and detained two brothers.
They conducted a raid into Deir Abu Mashaal village, northwest of Ramallah, resulting in the detention of two brothers.
Meanwhile, the military vehicles stormed Huwara town, south of the northern West Bank city of Nablus, where the soldiers rounded up another.
The heavily-armed soldiers detained three others, including one whose 17-year-old brother was gunned down by the soldiers on April 11.
Confrontations broke out in several neighborhoods of the city, with the soldiers opening a heavy barrage of live ammunition, concussion and tear gas canisters towards local youths, resulting in suffocation cases and damage to several cars.
The soldiers also showed up at a house in al-Yamun town, west of the city, muscled inside, conducted a thorough search and eventually detained two brothers.
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.
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.
