RAMALLAH, Friday, April 21, 2023 (WAFA) – Israeli forces today detained five Palestinians from various parts of the occupied West Bank, according to security sources and activists.
They said that Israeli police showed up at a house in the occupied city of Jerusalem, broke inside and rounded up a young man.
Israeli troops manning Qalandia checkpoint, north of Jerusalem, handcuffed and detained a young woman, a resident of Deir Dibwan town, east of Ramallah city.
In Nablus district, the heavily-armed soldiers manning Huwara checkpoint stopped and detained another from Tammun town, south of Tubas city.
In the southern West Bank district of Hebron, a convoy of army vehicles stormed Beit Ummar, north of the city, where the soldiers rounded up three others and ransacked several houses, turning them upside down.
On Thursday evening, police detained a girl from the vicinity of one of the gates leading to Al-Aqsa Mosque compound.
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 4,900 Palestinian political prisoners in Israeli prisons and detention centers, including 160 children and 30 female prisoners.
This number includes 1,016 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.
