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AL-KHALIL, (PIC)-- Israeli occupation forces (IOF) rounded up ten Palestinians in Al-Khalil and Jerusalem over the past 24 hours including three children.

Mohammed Awad, the spokesman for the popular anti settlement committee in Beit Ummar village, said that the IOF soldiers rounded up three children, all 14 years old, in the village, north of Al-Khalil, at dawn Tuesday.

He said that the soldiers broke into the family homes of those three children and terrified women and children before taking away the three children blindfolded and handcuffed like common criminals.

The IOF soldiers rounded up 70 citizens in Beit Ummar village since the start of 2012 including 40 children.

Meanwhile, seven Jerusalemites were arrested in Tur suburb in occupied Jerusalem on Monday night including a child and six citizens who tried to stop the arrest, locals said.

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Three Children Arrested in Beit Ommar
reported by Palestinian Solidarity Project

In the past twenty-four hours, three male Palestinian children have been arrested in separate raids by Israeli soldiers in Beit Ommar.

Jowad Muhammad Jameel Za’aqiq (15 years old) was arrested at around 5pm on Monday, 21 May, 2012. He was helping his father tend to his family land when the arrest took place. His father asked the soldiers present why his son was being taken. He was informed that Jowad (his son) had been seen throwing stones.

Muhannad Mershad Awad (12 years old) and Alaa Yousef Mohammad Abu Maria (14 years old) were both arrested from their respective family homes in night raids at around 2am on Tuesday, 22 May, 2012. The reason for their arrests is unknown.

Night raids are an almost daily occurrence in Beit Ommar. Night raids typically target Palestinian minors, activists and organizers involved in popular resistance initiatives against the Israeli occupation. Israeli soldiers often fail to explain why the ‘suspect’ is being arrested. The detainees are usually taken to the Gush Etzion settlement, which houses a jail and interrogation center.

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