RAMALLAH, Thursday, May 9, 2024 (WAFA) – Israeli occupation forces Thursday afternoon and evening detained six Palestinians from various parts of the occupied West Bank, according to security and local sources.
They said that the occupation forces rounded up a resident of the al-Bireh city neighbourhood of Jabal at-Tawil.
During ensuing confrontations, the gun-toting soldiers fired volleys of live ammunition, concussion grenades and tear gas canisters at local young men, without any casualty.
In the northern West Bank, the heavily armed soldiers manning a gate at the entrance of Khirbet Atuf detained a resident of Tammun town, south of Tubas, according to Kamal Bani Odeh, Director of the Palestine Prisoner’s Society (PPS).
In the southern West Bank, a convoy of army vehicles stormed the town of Za'atara, east of Bethlehem, where the soldiers rounded up a woman and ransacked her family house.
The sources confirmed a similar raid in the town of Battir, west of Bethlehem, leading to the detention of two brothers.
The occupation soldiers barged their way into the village of al-Maniya, southeast of Bethlehem, muscled inside several houses, conducted thorough search, assaulted the occupants, detained a young man and stole 11,000 shekels (approx. $3,000), as reported by Zayed Kawazba. head of the village council.
In the predawn and early morning hours, at least 25 Palestinians were detained in multiple raids across the occupied West Bank.
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.
