Israeli forces detain four Palestinians from West Bank

TUBAS: Israeli occupation forces Thursday evening detained four Palestinians from the occupied West Bank governorates of Tubas and Jerusalem, according to the Palestine Prisoner's Society (PPS) and local sources. Kamal Bani Odeh, Director of PPS Office in Tubas, said that Israeli soldiers rounded up a youth from the city of Tubas at the King Hussein Bridge/al-Karama border crossing as the latter was traveling to Jordan. Meanwhile in Jerusalem, the occupation forces brutally assaulted and detained two youths in the Shufat refugee camp, north of Jerusalem. They also showed up at the Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan and rounded up a minor. In the predawn hours of today, the occupation forces detained at least 16 Palestinians, including a journalist, a girl and former detainees, from various parts of the occupied West Bank. 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 9,900 Palestinian political prisoners in Israeli prisons and detention centres, including 250 child prisoners and 86 female prisoners. This number includes approximately 3,423 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, ov er 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