Israeli forces detain eight Palestinians from West Bank

RAMALLAH: Israeli occupation forces today detained at least eight Palestinians from various parts of the occupied West Bank, according to local and security sources. They said that the occupation forces showed up at a house located close to the Ramallah-Nablus Road, adjacent to the town of Sinjil, north of Ramallah, and rounded up a youth. The occupation forces also rounded up another youth for grazing his sheep in the same locality. Earlier, the occupation forces conducted a raid into al-Bireh city, resulting in the detention of another. In Jerusalem district, a convoy of Israeli army vehicles stormed Qalandiya refugee camp, where the soldiers broke into a house, conducted a thorough search, interrogated occupants and eventually detained one of them. In Hebron district, the gun-toting soldiers barged their way into the town of Beit Awwa and the city of Yatta, where they ransacked several houses and detained two others. In the northern West Bank, the sources confirmed a similar raid in the city of Qalai liya, resulting in the detention of two others. 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 authority is exercised. According to the latest figures from Addameer, the Palestinian Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association, there are currently 9,300 Palestinian political prisoners in Israeli prisons and detention centres, including 250 child prisoners and 74 female prisoners. This number includes approximately 3,410 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