RAMALLAH, Friday, August 26, 2022 (WAFA) – Israeli forces Friday overnight and Thursday evening detained at least three Palestinians from various parts of the West Bank, according to local sources.
They said that Israeli forces rounded up a Palestinian after breaking into and searching his family house in the Nablus city neighborhood of Rafidya.
The raid triggered confrontations, which saw the soldiers opening fire towards local young men attempting to block their passage. No injuries were reported though.
In the northern West Bank, the gun-toting soldiers manning a flying checkpoint at the entrance of Azzun town, east of Qalqiliya city, stopped and re-arrested a former prisoner.
The former prisoner was identified as a resident of al-Far‘a refugee camp, south of Tubas city.
Meanwhile, police detained Jerusalem Governor Adnan Ghaith’s son, Qusai, from his family house 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, including 175 children and 27 female prisoners.
This number includes approximately 670 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.
