Israeli forces Tuesday afternoon detained two Palestinians from the West Bank districts of Tubas and Jericho, according to the Palestine Prisoner's Society (PPS) and a local activist.
Director of PPS Office in Tubas, Kamal Bani-Odeh, said that the gun-toting Israeli soldiers manning al-Hamra checkpoint, stopped and rounded up a young man from the city and briefly held another before releasing him.
Meanwhile, soldiers stationed at the southern entrance of Jericho, that remains under tight blockade for the fourth consecutive day, handcuffed and detained a Fatah activist.
Earlier today, Israeli police detained a Turkish woman and two other Palestinians at Jerusalem's flashpoint Al-Aqsa Mosque compound.
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 160 children and 30 female prisoners.
This number includes 1,016 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