RAMALLAH, April 3, 2026 (WAFA) – Israeli occupation forces on Friday afternoon detained a Palestinian at the entrance of Atara town, north of the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah, according to local sources.
They said that the gun-toting soldiers manning the permanently staffed Atara checkpoint stopped a cab, ordered a passenger out and detained him.
The detainee was identified as a villager of Deir Ghassana.
Earlier, the occupying forces rounded up nine Palestinians in multiple raids across the occupied West Bank, as confirmed by security and local sources.
In the Bethlehem governorate, the soldiers showed up at a house in the Dheisheh refugee camp, conducted a thorough search, and rounded up an occupant.
They broke into a house in Beit Jala city, west of Bethlehem, and severely beat up an occupant.
In the Jenin governorate, a convoy of army vehicles stormed Rummana town, where the soldiers rounded up a journalist, purportedly for using a drone for news reporting.
In the Salfit governorate, local sources confirmed a raid in Sarta village, resulting in the detention of five Palestinians.
Meanwhile, the occupation forces detained two Palestinians, including an Imam, after assaulting worshippers seeking to pray at Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in the occupied city of Jerusalem.
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 9,500 Palestinian political prisoners in Israeli prisons and detention centers, including 350 child prisoners and 73 female prisoners.
This number includes approximately 3,442 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.
K.F.
