RAMALLAH, Thursday, March 9, 2023 (WAFA) – Israeli forces dawn Thursday detained eight Palestinians from various parts of the occupied West Bank, according to local and security sources.
They said that Israeli forces showed up at a house in Jaba‘ town, southwest of the northern West Bank city of Jenin, wreaked havoc inside and eventually rounded up a Palestinian.
The gun-toting soldiers rounded up two others in separate raids in Silat al-Harithiya village and al-Yamun town, northwest and west of the city.
In Nablus district, a convoy of military vehicles stormed Sebastia town, northwest of the city, where the soldiers detained another.
They conducted a similar raid in Beita town, south of the city, resulting in the detention of another.
In the southern West Bank, the heavily-armed soldiers rounded up three others from Hebron city and ransacked the houses of their families, turning them upside down.
On Wednesday evening, Israeli police seized a former prisoner’s private vehicle from Jerusalem.
This was the second time police seized the private vehicle of the same former prisoner although the latter paid the entire fees due.
The vehicle was seized in line with Israeli Minister of ‘Defense’ Yoav Gallant’s recent decree imposing financial penalties on 87 Palestinian prisoners from occupied Jerusalem, under the pretext of receiving money from the Palestinian Authority.
Also on Wednesday evening, soldiers manning a checkpoint close to ‘Arraba town, south of Jenin, stopped a vehicle and detained two cousins.
One of the detainees was identified as a member of Fatah-affiliated student bloc in the Arab American University, who also serves as the head of the student senate.
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.
