SALFIT, January 21, 2025 (WAFA) – Israeli occupation forces Tuesday evening detained seven Palestinians from the occupied West Bank governorates of Salfit and Hebron, according to local sources.
They said that the occupation troops rounded up five Palestinians, all identified as residents of the Beit Kahel town, west of Hebron, as the latter were touring their land in the Farsh al-Hawa area.
Meanwhile, the gun-toting soldiers rounded up a youth from a store in Deir Istiya town, northwest of Salfit.
Earlier today, eyewitnesses confirmed that the occupation soldiers detained a 17-year-old teen after besieging a house in Tiinnik village, west of the occupied West Bank city of Jenin.
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 without 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 10,400 Palestinian political prisoners in Israeli prisons and detention centers, including 320 child prisoners and 88 female prisoners.
This number includes approximately 3,376 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.
