Israeli forces detain 30 Palestinians in West Bank raids

RAMALLAH: The Israeli occupation forces Friday and Saturday detained 30 Palestinians from various parts of the West Bank, according to the Prisoners' Affairs Commission and the Palestinian Prisoner's Society. They said that the occupation forces rounded up 30 people in multiple raids across the West Bank. Among the detainees, they added, were three women, who were rounded up from Jerusalem and released afterwards, and half of the detainees are residents of the Nur Shams refugee camp. They added that the detention raids were concentrated in the Nur Shams refugee camp, which is still subject to an ongoing offensive while pointing out that among the 15 people detained from the camp were minor and injured people. Two of the 30 detainees were identified as a former prisoner from Kafr ad-Dik town, west of the city of Salfit, and another from Deir Ballut town. According to the Prisoners' Affairs Commission and the Palestinian Prisoner's Society, the occupation forces have detained some 8,340 Palestinians since O ctober 7, 2023. Such prisoners were detained from their houses, at checkpoints, were forced to turn themselves in or were held as hostages. The 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 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 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 plac ed 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 and Information Agency – WAFA