Israeli occupation forces Thursday overnight detained six Palestinians from various parts of the West Bank, according to local and security sources.
They said that Israeli troops showed up at a house in al-Bireh city neighborhood of Umm al- Sharayet, muscled inside, conducted a thorough search and rounded up a Palestinian.
During the course of the ensuing confrontations, the soldier gunned down Yazan Afaneh, a 26-year-old resident of the nearby Qalandiya refugee camp, north of Jerusalem.
A convoy of army vehicles also stormed Silwad town for the eleventh consecutive day, where the soldiers detained a young man after breaking into and searching his parents’ house.
In the northern West Bank, the sources confirmed a raid in Anabta town, east of Tulkarm city, resulting in the detention of another.
In Nablus district, the soldiers conducted a raid in Balata refugee camp, east of the city, and arrested another.
During the course of the ensuing confrontations, the heavily-armed soldiers gunned down Samer Khaled, a 25-year-old resident of the nearby refugee camp of ‘Ein Beit el Ma.
In the southern West Bank, the soldiers forcibly entered a house in al-Ubeidiya town, east of Bethlehem, and detained another.
They also detained another from al-Azza refugee camp, also known as Beit Jibrin camp, located within the city, and ransacked his parents’ house, turning it upside down.
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 4,450 Palestinian political prisoners in Israeli prisons and detention centers, including 27 female prisoners and 175 children.
This number includes approximately 670 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.
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