Israeli forces detain 18 Palestinians from West Bank

RAMALLAH, Tuesday, May 25, 2021 (WAFA) – Israeli forces Tuesday overnight detained 18 Palestinians from various parts of the West Bank, according to the Palestine Prisoner’s Society (PPS).

As part of the detention raids, nine were rounded up from Jerusalem district, three others from Jenin district, another from Nablus district, another from Jericho district in addition to three others from Hebron district.

In Jerusalem city, Israeli police rounded up five young men after breaking into the houses of their families in the city.

They also conducted a raid in the Jerusalem neighborhood of al-Tur, where they rounded up an 18-year-old teen.

Still in Jerusalem district, Two others were detained in separate raids in Biddu and Beit Duqqu towns, northwest of the city.

This came as the Mista’arvim forces sneaked their way into az-Za’ayyem village, east of the city, where they kidnapped another purportedly for posting a video on social media.

In Jenin district, Israeli forces re-arrested a former prisoner after breaking into his family house in Kafr Dan village, northwest of Jenin city.

Director of PPS Office in Jenin, Muntaser Sammur, pointed that Israeli forces were chasing the former prisoner and stormed his family house several times in the past few weeks, assaulting his family members and briefly holding his father and brothers at the Salem military camp as a means to force him to turn himself in.

This came as Undercover Israeli forces, known as Mista’arvim, kidnapped another former prisoner from his house in Jaba‘ town, south of the city.

Another Palestinian was detained after being stopping at the Mavo Dotan military checkpoint, southwest of the city. He was identified as a resident of al-Yamun town, west of the city.

In Nablus district, Israeli military vehicles stormed the city, where the soldiers rounded up another after ransacking his house in al-Quds Street.

In Jericho district, an Israeli military raid was confirmed in Aqabat Jaber refugee camp, southwest of the city, resulting in the detention of a member of the Palestinian National Security Service.

In the southern West Bank, PPS confirmed an Israeli military raid in the Hebron city neighborhood of Khallet Hadur, resulting in the detention of another.

On Monday evening, Israeli forces raided al-Tuwani village,  south of Hebron, and arrested a father and his son.

According to the Alliance for Human Rights (AHR), a group that documents human rights abuses in the occupied territories, soldiers held the detainees in a van inside the Israeli colonial settlement of Maon for several hours before taking them into the Kiryat Arba Police Station.

AHR learned that the soldiers wouldn’t let the detainees talk to their lawyer before the investigation.

During the arrest, the soldiers stormed several houses, hit a mom and her 5-year-old daughter, inflicting bruises in her eye.

They also destroyed house windows, damaged property in the houses, and took phones away of people who tried to film the operation.

Israeli forces frequently raid Palestinian houses almost on a daily basis across the West Bank on the pretext of searching for “wanted” Palestinians, triggering clashes with residents.

These raids, which take place also in areas under the full control of the Palestinian Authority, 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.

 

Source: Palestine News & Info Agency (WAFA)

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