Israeli occupation arrests 20 Palestinians including injured teen in the WB  

OCCUPIED AL-QUDS, Aug.4, (ST)- Today, the Israeli occupation forces detained 20 Palestinians, including an injured teen, in multiple raids in the West Bank , according to local and security sources.

They said that Israeli occupation forces showed up at a house in Silat al-Harithiya town, west of Jenin, muscled inside, conducted a thorough search, rounded up a young man and seized his vehicle, according to WAFA News Agency.

In Tulkarm district, Israeli occupation troops rounded up three others, including a 17-year-old teen after breaking into and ransacking his parents’ house in Nur Shmas refugee camp, east of the northern West Bank city.

The sources confirmed that the teen sustained gunshot wound in the thigh caused by live ammunition by Israeli occupation soldiers while standing in front of the house during a raid a month ago. He is still recuperating from his wounds.

Meanwhile, a convoy of occupation army’s vehicles stormed into Nablus city, where the soldiers detained two men and searched their houses, turning them upside down.

In the southern West Bank, the sources confirmed a raid in al-Khader town, south of Bethlehem, resulting in the detention of another.

The occupation soldiers conducted a similar raid in the Bethlehem city neighborhoods of Wadi Shaheen and al-Karkafeh, leading to the detention of two others.

In Hebron district, the occupation soldiers barged their way into Halhul town, north of the city, and detained three others, including two brothers.

They also arrested eight members of the Ajlouni family after ransacking their houses in the city.

They also forcibly entered several houses in At-Tuwani, one of the localities making up Masafer Yatta, including the house of the head of the locality council, Mohammad Rib‘i, and tempered with the contents.

Israeli occupation 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 4,650 Palestinian political prisoners in Israeli prisons and detention centers, including 180 children and 30 women.

This number includes approximately 650 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.

Basma Qaddour