RAMALLAH, Monday, February 20, 2023 (WAFA) – Israeli forces predawn Monday and Sunday night detained 13 Palestinians from various parts of the occupied West Bank, according to local and security sources.
They said that Israeli forces rounded up three Palestinians and ransacked the houses of their families in Bil‘in village, west of the city of Ramallah.
In Jerusalem, the heavily-armed Israeli police showed up at two houses in al-Issawiya neighborhood, broke inside, conducted thorough search and eventually detained two others.
Police also forcibly entered and tampered with the contents of two houses in Hizma and al-Ram towns, northeast of Jerusalem, before detaining two others, including a 17-year-old teen.
In the southern West Bank, the sources confirmed a similar raid in al-Khader town, south of Bethlehem, resulting in the detention of two others, including a 16-year-old teen.
During ensuing confrontations, the soldiers opened fire towards local youths who attempted to block their entry. No injuries were reported.
In the northern West Bank, a convoy of army vehicles stormed Jaba‘ town, snipers were deployed on rooftops of houses before the soldiers stormed two houses and detained two others.
On Sunday night, soldiers manning a checkpoint, close to Deir Sharaf village, west of Nablus, stopped and re-arrested a former prisoner from Tulkarm city.
The sources confirmed that another former prisoner was re-arrested close to the section of Israel’s apartheid wall, west of Zeita town, north of the city.
The soldiers also barged their way into Far‘oun Street and several other neighborhoods, including Irtah and Shweika, where they confiscated the recordings of surveillance cameras of a number of stores.
Meanwhile, soldiers stationed along Gaza’s eastern frontier detained a resident of Khan Younes district.
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.
