Israeli forces Tuesday afternoon and evening detained nine Palestinians from various parts of the occupied West Bank, according to security sources and the Palestine Prisoner’s Society (PPS). They said that four Palestinians, all residents of Qabatiya town, south of the northern West Bank city of Jenin, were rounded up after appearing before the Israeli intelligence at Salem military camp, near Salem village, south of the city. Israeli soldiers manning the Za’tara military checkpoint, that separates the northern West Bank from the southern West Bank, stopped and rounded up a resident of al-Jalama village, northeast of Jenin, as confirmed by PPS Office Director, Muntaser Samour. Meanwhile, a former prisoner from Tubas city was re-arrested after being summoned to the Israeli intelligence at the Salem Detention military camp. In Jerusalem, the heavily-armed police detained another from Jabal al-Mukabir neighborhood and another from al-Tur neighborhood. In Ramallah district, Israeli special forces abducted another from a car shop in al-Am’ari refugee camp, south of the city. Earlier today, Israeli forces rounded up 11 others, including a 62-year-old man, in multiple raids across the occupied West Bank. Two of the 11 detainees, including the 62-year-old man, were detained as a means to coerce their sons from al-Mughayyir village, northeast of Ramallah, to turn themselves in to the Israeli army. 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. According to the latest figures from Addameer, the Palestinian Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association, there are currently 4,900 Palestinian political prisoners in Israeli prisons and detention centers, including 155 children and 32 female prisoners. This number includes 1,014 Palestinians placed under ‘administrative detention’, that 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. 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.

Source: Palestine news & Information Agency