RAMALLAH, July 28, 2022 (WAFA) – Israeli forces Thursday overnight detained 11 Palestinians in multiple West Bank raids, according to local and security sources.
They said that Israeli forces rounded up two brothers from Qarawat Bani Zeid village, northwest of Ramallah city, and re-arrested a former prisoner from Jalazone refugee camp, north of the city.
A convoy of military vehicles stormed Silwad town, northeast of the city, where the soldiers detained two others, including a former prisoner.
The raid triggered violent confrontations that saw the soldiers opening live ammunition towards local young men attempting to block their passage. No injuries were reported though.
In the northern West Bank, the sources confirmed that one Palestinian was detained from Ya‘bad town, southwest of Jenin city, and another from al-Yamun town, west of the city.
The gun-toting soldiers also showed up at a house in Burqin town, west of the city, muscled inside, conducted a thorough search, and rounded another.
Soldiers manning a checkpoint near the northern West Bank city of Qalqiliya stopped and detained another from al-Yamun.
In the southern West Bank, soldiers re-arrested a former prisoner from Dheisha refugee camp, south of Bethlehem.
They also conducted a raid in Ad-Doha town, west of Bethlehem, resulting in the detention of another.
Another raid was reported in the nearby town of Husan, where the soldiers forcibly entered two houses and ransacked them, turning them topsy-turvy.
On Wednesday evening, a sizable military force barged its way into the southern part of Hebron city, and stormed several houses belonging to the Abu Turk family.
The soldiers rounded up a member of the family after holding him and his family for more than four hours in their house.
They attacked the family, including women and children, in their house, inflicting bruises across the body of a member, who also suffered a dislocated shoulder.
They confiscated two vehicles and carpentry equipment belonging to a member of the Abu Turk family, and ransacked his carpentry workshop, causing considerable destruction to it.
Also in Hebron district, the soldiers chased and opened fire towards a vehicle with a Palestinian registration plate close to the permanently-staffed Meitar checkpoint, hitting its tires and bringing it to a halt.
The soldiers afterwards detained the driver, identified as a resident of Ad-Dhahiriya city, south of Hebron.
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 4,650 Palestinian political prisoners in Israeli prisons and detention centers, including 180 children and 30 female prisoners.
This number includes approximately 650 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.
