Description

Photo:
Scene in Salfit. Published by IMEMC News

Israeli forces in the West Bank, on Sunday. Credit: IDF Spokesperson Published by Haaretz

Yahya Ma'ari (right) and Yusuf 'Assi (left). Published by Haaretz

See Video at IMEMC News Source link.
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by IMEMC News
April 30, 2022

Israeli soldiers abducted, Saturday evening, seven Palestinians, including a father and his children, from Qarawat Bani Hassan town west of the central West Bank city of Salfit.

Media sources said several army vehicles surrounded the town before the soldiers invaded it, just before Iftar on the last day of Ramadan.

They added that undercover soldiers also infiltrated the town before storming and ransacking the homes of Samih ‘Aasi and Mohammad Mer’ey.

Ibrahim ‘Aasi, the mayor of Qarawat Bani Hasan, said the soldiers abducted Samih ‘Aasi, and his sons, former political prisoner Yousef, after assaulting him, in addition to Amir, 16, and Bilal, 15.

The mayor added that the soldiers also invaded and ransacked the home of Mohammad Mer’ey before abducting him along with his sons Yahia, 20, and Montaser.

The invasions led to protests in several parts of the town before the soldiers fired gas bombs, concussion grenades, and rubber-coated steel bullets at the Palestinians and their homes.
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Israel Arrests 12 Palestinians After Killing of Settlement Guard

The army 'mapped' the homes of the two suspects accused of shooting dead an Israeli at the entrance to the West Bank settlement of Ariel, a routine practice ahead of home demolitions

by Yaniv Kubovich, Hagar Shezaf, Josh Breiner, and Jack Khoury for Haaretz
May. 1, 2022 11:07 AM

Israeli forces raided overnight into Sunday the West Bank village where the two suspects accused of attacking security guards outside the settlement of Ariel live, the military said, arresting 12 suspects.

The army "mapped" the homes of the two suspects believed to be responsible for the Friday evening attack, which left one 23-year-old dead. The mapping is likely to precede demolitions.

The two suspects, Yusuf 'Assi and Yahya Ma'ari, were arrested Saturday.

One person suspected of aiding the attackers was arrested "as part of the mapping operation," the army said.

In addition to the northern village of Qarawat Bani Hassan, Israeli soldiers also raided several other villages in the area. Forces also confiscated weapons.

The army said that riots broke out in the Jalazone refugee camp in the West Bank, in which "dozens threw rocks" and forces responded with riot dispersal measures.

IDF spokesperson said the army will stay on high alert as it has been since the beginning of Ramadan.

The IDF and anti-terror units arrested Yusuf 'Assi and Yahya Ma'ari, both in their twenties, in Qarawat Bani Hassan, after an investigation by the Shin Bet security service.

The arrest operation occurred at one of the suspects' homes, where both of them were present, according to security sources. Israeli security forces also detained the family members at the scene and confiscated two weapons, which they believe were used in the attack.

Residents of Qarawat Bani Hassan said that Yusuf 'Assi was not known to belong to any political group. However, Hassan Ibrahim 'Assi, the mayor of the town, said that Ma'ari's family was affiliated with Hamas, even though Yahya's own affiliation was unclear. His father Mohammed was imprisoned with Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, the founder of Hamas, and even named his son after his close friend Yahya Ayyash, the chief bomb-maker for the Islamist group.

The suspects have been transferred to Shin Bet interrogation, which are trying to establish whether they operated as part of a larger cell and whether there were any accomplices.

In a statement issued by the Israel Police, Commissioner Kobi Shabtai said the arrest "is a decisive message that expresses the policy of the Israel Police, which operates on all of the fronts and with all of its units, including special forces, to thwart terrorism and arrest anyone who has harmed or who seeks to harm Israeli civilians or members of the security forces."