RAMALLAH, Thursday, January 17, 2019 (WAFA) – Assef Barghouti, from the village of Kobar, northwest of Ramallah and whose two brothers Assem and Saleh were accused by Israel of shooting attacks at Israeli soldiers and settlers in the West Bank in December, was placed on Thursday in administrative detention for three months, according to the Palestinian Prisoner Society (PPS).

The Israeli army killed Saleh on December 12 following an ambush near Ramallah after he was accused of shooting and injuring seven Israeli settlers in the West Bank, and arrested this month Assem, whom it charged of shooting and killing two Israeli soldiers the day after his brother, Saleh, was shot dead.

The army had also detained the Barghoutis father, Omar, 66, the night of the killing of his son, Saleh, and later their youngest brother, Mohammad, 17. Omar Barghouti is also expected to be placed in administrative detention when his remand is over in a couple of days. He has already spent a total of 26 years in Israeli jails between serving actual sentence and administrative detention for resisting the Israeli occupation.

The Barghoutis mother, who was not arrested, was threatened with displacement from her hometown and life in exile in Jericho, east of the West Bank.

The PPS described placing Assef in administrative detention and holding his father and youngest brother in prison as a vindictive act and collective punishment against the entire family.

M.K.