JERUSALEM, Friday, February 24, 2023 (WAFA) – Israeli forces predawn Friday and Thursday night detained six Palestinians from various parts of the occupied West Bank, according to local and security sources.
They said that the heavily-armed Israeli police rounded up two Palestinians from the vicinity of Bab al-Amoud and another after assaulting him at Bab Al-Asbat plaza in the occupied city of Jerusalem.
This came as police attacked Palestinian worshippers at Bab Al-Asbat (Lions' Gate), one of the gates leading to Jerusalem’s flashpoint al-Aqsa Mosque compound.
Meanwhile, the gun-toting soldiers brutally assaulted and detained a 17-year-old teen in the course of confrontations in al-Khader town, south of the southern West Bank city of Bethlehem.
On Thursday evening, a resident of Kafa village, south of Tulkarm, was detained after appearing before Israeli intelligence.
The sources confirmed soldiers manning Tayasir checkpoint, east of Tubas city, stopped and detained a resident of the city.
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.
