RAMALLAH, Thursday, March 02, 2023 (WAFA) – Israeli forces predawn Thursday detained 15 Palestinians from various parts of the occupied West Bank, according to local and security sources.
They said that Israeli police rounded up two Palestinians from the occupied city of Jerusalem.
A convoy of army vehicles stormed al-Eizariya town, east of the city, where the soldiers detained three others and ransacked the houses of their families.
They also detained two others from Biddu town, northwest of the city, and another from Kafr 'Aqab, north of the city.
In the southern West Bank, the gun-toting soldiers re-arrested a former prisoner after forcibly entering his family house in al-Khader town, south of Bethlehem city.
They also showed up at a house in Beit Fajjar town, south of the city, muscled inside, conducted a thorough search and eventually rounded up another.
In Hebron district, also in the southern West Bank, the soldiers detained another from Masafer Yatta area, south of the city, and searched his family houses, turning it upside down.
In the northern West Bank, the heavily-armed soldiers forced their way into Jenin city, forcibly entered a house and detained two brothers.
They conducted a similar raid in Jaba‘ town, southwest of the city, resulting in the detention of two others.
During the ensuing confrontations, the soldiers opened fire towards local youths attempting to block their entry, but without causing any casualty.
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 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.
