RAMALLAH, Thursday, February 16, 2023 (WAFA) – Israeli forces predawn Thursday detained 24 Palestinians from various parts of the occupied West Bank, according to local and security sources.
They said that Israeli forces rounded up two Palestinians and ransacked the houses of their families in Beitunia city, west of Ramallah.
The gun-toting soldiers re-arrested four prisoners; three from the neighboring al-Bireh city and the other from Ramallah city neighborhood of al-Irsal.
In the Jordan Valley, a convoy of army vehicles stormed Aqabat Jaber refugee camp, southwest of Jericho, where the soldiers detained three others, including two brothers.
In the northern West Bank, a sizable army force stormed Jenin city and refugee camp and detained another who has sustained an injury from the army gunfire in a previous raid.
Soldiers manning a flying checkpoint, close to Deir Sharaf village, west of Nablus, stopped and rounded up another from Tulkarm refugee camp.
In Tubas district, the sources confirmed a raid in Tayasir village, northeast of the city, resulting in the detention of another.
In the southern West Bank, the soldiers showed up at a house in Aida refugee camp, north of Bethlehem city, broke inside, conducted a thorough search and eventually detained another.
In Hebron district, Israeli forces conducted a large-scale raid in Beit Kahil town, northwest of the city, detaining 11 others and searching the houses of their families, turning them upside down.
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 4,780 Palestinian political prisoners in Israeli prisons and detention centers, including 160 children and 29 female prisoners.
This number includes approximately 915 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.
