RAMALLAH: Israeli occupation forces today detained at least 10 Palestinians in multiple raids across the occupied West Bank, according to security and local sources.
They said that the occupation forces rounded up four Palestinians and ransacked the houses of their families in the village of Rantis, northwest of Ramallah.
The occupation soldiers also rounded up another from the village of Shuqba, northwest of Ramallah, and ransacked his family house, turning it upside down.
In the northern West Bank, a convoy of army vehicles raided the town of Anabta, east of Tulkarm, where the soldiers muscled inside two houses, detained two residents and confiscated their mobile phones.
The soldiers broke into a furniture store in the area, smashing its door and wreaking havoc inside.
In the southern West Bank, the sources confirmed a similar raid in the village of Ilat Ali, east of Bethlehem, resulting in the detention of another.
The heavily-armed soldiers rounded up another and searched his family house in the tow
n of al-Khader, south of Bethlehem.
Also in the southern West Bank, the occupation soldiers barged their way into an elementary school in the Old City of Hebron, where they assaulted and detained an employee.
The sources confirmed similar raids in the town of Silat ad-Dhahr, south of Jenin, and Askar refugee camp, east of Nablus, where the soldiers searched a number of houses and threatened the families to blow up the houses should some of their members fail to turn themselves to the army.
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 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 aut
hority 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 centres, including 200 child prisoners and 80 female prisoners.
This number includes approximately 3,660 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.
The 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 – WAFA