BETHLEHEM, Sunday, June 16, 2024 (WAFA) – Israeli occupation forces Sunday morning detained three Palestinians from al-Khader town, south of Bethlehem, according to security sources.

They said that a convoy of occupation military vehicles barged their way into the occupied southern West Bank town, where the soldiers rounded up three residents and ransacked a house, turning it upside down.

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 9,300 Palestinian political prisoners in Israeli prisons and detention centres, including 250 child prisoners and 74 female prisoners.

This number includes approximately 3,410 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.