HEBRON, Friday, January 20, 2023 (WAFA) – Israeli forces Friday and Thursday evening detained at least five Palestinians from the occupied West Bank districts of Jenin and Hebron, according to local and security sources.
They said that Israeli forces rounded up a Palestinian from the outskirts of Tal al-Hafireh, adjacent to Bir al-Basha village, southwest of the city of Jenin.
Meanwhile, the gun-toting soldiers manning a checkpoint close to the illegal colonial settlement of Beitar, west of Bethlehem, stopped and detained a resident of Beit Ummar town, north of Hebron.
Several hours later, Israeli police brutally assaulted and detained a Palestinian young man in the vicinity of Bab al-Asbat, one of the gates leading to Jerusalem’s flashpoint Al-Aqsa Mosque.
The young man was on his way to attend Friday prayer at the mosque.
Two others, including a 17-year-old teen, were detained while cultivating their land in al-Mirtabah hamlet, east of the southern West Bank city of Yatta.
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 4,700 Palestinian political prisoners in Israeli prisons and detention centers, including 150 children and 34 female prisoners.
This number includes approximately 835 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.
