JENIN– Israeli forces today detained three Palestinians from the northern West Bank district of Jenin, according to local sources.
They said that the gun-toting soldiers showed up at a house in Ya‘bad town, west of the city of Jenin, went inside, conducted a thorough search and eventually rounded up a Palestinian.
They also detained two others, including a former prisoner, from Bir al-Basha and Fahma villages, south and southwest of the city, and ransacked the houses of their families, turning them upside down.
Meanwhile, confrontations erupted Tuesday evening with Israeli troops at the entrances of Silwad and al-Mazra’a ash-Sharqiya towns, northeast of Ramallah.
The soldiers fired volleys of rubber-coated steel bullets and tear gas canisters at local youths, but no injuries were reported.
They barged their way into Sinjil town, north of the city, stormed a gas station, stopped Palestinian vehicles and inspected passengers’ identity cards.
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 4,700 Palestinian political prisoners in Israeli prisons and detention centers, including 190 children and 30 female prisoners.
This number includes approximately 800 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 and Information Agency