RAMALLAH, Wednesday, May 8, 2024 (WAFA) – The Israeli occupation forces Tuesday evening to Wednesday detained at least 34 Palestinians from various parts of the occupied West Bank, according to the Prisoners’ Affairs Commission (PAC) and the Palestinian Prisoners’ Society (PPS).
PAC and PPS said that the occupation forces rounded up at least 34 Palestinians, including a woman and several former prisoners, with the majority of the detainees coming from the West Bank districts of Hebron, Bethlehem and Nablus.
They added that as part of the raids, the occupation forces usually practice torture, beating, destruction of Palestinian property and confiscation of cash savings on a large scale.
According to the PAC and PPS statistics, approximately 8,640 Palestinians have been detained since October 7, and they include those rounded up in house raids, at army checkpoints in addition to those who were forced to turn themselves in and those held as hostages.
As part of the detention raids, the occupation forces rounded up six Palestinians, including a 40-year-old father along with his 22 and 20-year-old sons, from the southern West Bank city of Bethlehem and searched their houses.
The occupation forces also raided the town of Tuqu‘, southeast of Bethlehem, and searched several houses, tampering with their contents.
Several hours later today, the occupation forces attacked students on their way back from school in the town of al-Khader, south of Bethlehem, unleashing barrages of tear gas canisters and concussion grenades toward them and eventually brutally beat and detained a 16-year-old student.
Elsewhere in the southern West Bank, the heavily armed soldiers barged their way into the town of Ash-Shuyukh, northeast of Hebron, and detained three residents, including two brothers.
They conducted a similar raid in the nearby town of Sair, resulting in the detention of two residents.
They showed up at a house in the city of Hebron, muscled inside, conducted a thorough search and detained another.
In the Ramallah district, a convoy of army vehicles stormed the Am’ari refugee camp, where the gun-toting soldiers detained another and ransacked a house, turning it upside down.
The occupation troops re-arrested two formerly imprisoned brothers and searched their houses in the village of al-Lubban al-Gharbi, west of Ramallah, just a week after their release from imprisonment.
The sources confirmed a similar raid in the villager of Deir Jarir, east of Ramallah, leading to the arrest of another.
Later today, Israeli soldiers detained two farmers, in their 40s, from the vicinity of 'Ein Samia spring near Kafr Malik village, northeast of Ramallah, and undercover Israeli forces abducted a university student from his workplace near Jalazone refugee camp, north of Ramallah.
Meanwhile, the occupation forces detained three Palestinians and searched the houses of their families in the city of Nablus.
Still in the Nablus district, the sources confirmed a raid in the village of ‘Asira al-Qibliya, leading to the detention of two villagers.
In the northern West Bank, the soldiers forcibly entered a house in Iktaba neighbourhood, east of the city of Tulkarm, woke up all the residents, turned the houses topsy-turvy, and re-arrested a former prisoner.
Also in the northern West Bank, dozens of soldiers showed up at two houses in the Ya‘bad town, south of Jenin, muscled in, conducted a thorough search, seized cash and detained two occupants.
The sources added that soldiers manning a checkpoint near Ramallah stopped and detained a resident of Jenin refugee camp.
The occupation forces frequently raid Palestinian houses almost daily across the West Bank on the pretext of searching for “wanted” Palestinians, triggering clashes with residents.
These raids 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 9,500 Palestinian political prisoners in Israeli prisons and detention centres, including 200 child prisoners and 80 female prisoners.
This number includes approximately 3,660 Palestinians placed under “administrative detention”, which 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.
The 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.
