Jenin: Israeli occupation forces Thursday held several Palestinian civilians near the entrance of the Jenin refugee camp in the northern occupied West Bank, according to WAFA correspondent. She reported that the forces detained several civilians, including a husband with his ailing wife, at the Zahrra neighborhood near the camp's entrance.
According to Palestine News and Information Agency - WAFA, the occupation forces have maintained their aggression on the Jenin city and refugee camp for 80 consecutive days, resulting in the deaths of 36 Palestinians, injuring dozens, and systematically destroying hundreds of houses and civilian infrastructure, particularly in the camp. In a separate incident, the forces entered a house in Burqin town, west of Jenin, to detain the wife of a former prisoner as a means to coerce him into surrendering.
Earlier, Israeli forces detained at least 15 civilians, including a woman and a journalist, from various parts of the occupied West Bank. These raids occur almost daily, under the pretext of searching for 'wanted' Palestinians, and often result in clashes with residents. The military conducts these operations without search warrants, exercising sweeping arbitrary powers.
Under Israeli military law, army commanders hold full executive, legislative, and judicial authority over 3 million Palestinians living in the West Bank, leaving Palestinians without any 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 centers, including 350 child prisoners and 21 female prisoners. This includes approximately 3,405 Palestinians placed under 'administrative detention', which allows for detention without charge or trial for renewable periods of three to six months based on undisclosed evidence.
The mass arrest of Palestinians has been ongoing for decades. A 2017 report by Addameer indicated that over the past 50 years, more than 800,000 Palestinians have been imprisoned or detained by Israel, a number now believed to be closer to 1 million. This translates to about 40% of Palestinian men and boys living under military occupation being deprived of their freedom, with almost every Palestinian family experiencing the imprisonment of a loved one.
