JORDAN VALLEY, February 21, 2025 (WAFA) – Israeli occupation forces Friday detained at least nine Palestinians from various parts of the occupied West Bank, according to local and security sources.
They said that the occupying forces rounded up a shepherd while the latter was grazing his sheep in Khallet Makhoul community in the northern Jordan Valley.
Meanwhile, the occupying forces showed up at a house in southern Hebron City, broke inside, conducted a thorough search, and eventually detained an occupant.
The heavily armed soldiers ransacked several houses in the southern part of the city as well as in Bani Naim town, east of Hebron, turning them upside down.
In the Ramallah governorate, the sources confirmed a raid in the Jalazone refugee camp, resulting in the detention of two Palestinians.
The occupying forces showed up at a store in Silwad town, east of Ramallah, and rounded up four residents; two fathers along with their sons.
The occupation forces barged their way into Surda town, north of Ramallah, and rearrested a former prisoner.
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 10,000 Palestinian political prisoners in Israeli prisons and detention centers, including 365 child prisoners and 15 female prisoners.
This number includes approximately 3,369 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.
