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by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC & Agencies

Wednesday at dawn, April 3, 2013, Israeli soldiers invaded several areas in the occupied West Bank districts of Hebron, Bethlehem and occupied East Jerusalem, and kidnapped 16 Palestinians after breaking into their homes, and searching them.

Local sources in Hebron, in the southern part of the West Bank, reported that the army kidnapped Thabit Ayyash Zyadat, 20, after breaking into and searching his home in Bani Neim town, near Hebron.

Soldiers also invaded the nearby town of Halhoul, kidnapped Ezeddeen Abu Rayyan, 21, and took him to an unknown destination.

Furthermore, the soldiers invaded the center of the West Bank city of Bethlehem, and kidnapped Anas Suleiman, 18, and also invaded the Duheisha refugee camp and kidnapped Mahmoud Da’amsa, 16, in addition to kidnapping Omar Abu Ajamiyya, 16, from Doha town.

In Jerusalem, the army kidnapped one resident identified as Yousef Mkheimar, a local religious official, and kidnapped 10 more Palestinians, during a nonviolent protest held in Bab Al-Amoud area.

The kidnapped Palestinians have been identified as An’aam Quiambao, Nasser Qous (head of the Jerusalem Branch of the Palestinian Prisoners Society (PPS), Wa’ad Qannam, Lafi Rammouni, Imad Al-Husseini, Zakariyya Hijazi, Fuad Obeid (medic), Maled Khader Ad-Dibis, Ahmad Ja’ba, and Mohammad Gheith. They were all beaten by the arresting officers.

Clashes took place in Hebron, Bethlehem and different parts of the occupied West Bank following the death of detainee Maisara Abu Hamdiyya, 64, who died of an advanced stage of cancer due to the lack of adequate medical attention in Israeli prisons.

Mohammad Ayyad, spokesperson of the Popular Committee in Beit Ummar, reported that the clashes are still ongoing, and that dozens of residents have been treated for the effects of teargas inhalation, while two Palestinians were shot by rubber-coated metal bullets fired by the army.

More clashes are expected to take place on Thursday in Hebron, in addition to different parts of the West Bank, as the funeral of Abu Hamdiyya, 64, will be taking place in his hometown.

At least 50 Palestinians have been injured in Hebron during clashes that started on Tuesday following the death of Abu Hamdiyya. At least 10 were injured by rubber-coated metal bullets, while the rest suffered the effects of teargas inhalation.

The body of Abu Hamdiyya was moved to the Abu Kabeer Israeli Forensic Center, before it was moved to a Palestinian center in Abu Dis, east of occupied Jerusalem.

The health condition of Abu Hamdiyya has been rapidly deteriorating, especially over the last two months, after he was diagnosed with an advanced stage of throat cancer.

The death of Abu Hamdiyya brings the number of detainees who died in Israeli prisons following the 1967 six-day war, to 207.

Abu Hamdiyya was born in 1948 in Hebron city, in the southern part of the occupied West Bank. He is a retired lieutenant and a holder of a B.A. Degree in Electronics. He was kidnaped by the Israeli army on May 28 2002, and was sentenced to a life term.

He was repeatedly arrested and imprisoned starting in 1969, and lived in Jordan, Syria, Lebanon and Kuwait between the years of 1970 and 1975. In 1970, as he was studying in Cairo, he joined Fateh movement currently headed by President Mahmoud Abbas.

In 1976, he was imprisoned under Administrative Detention orders without charges and remained in prison until 1978 before he was illegally exiled to Jordan.

Israel refused to allow him into occupied Palestine following the Oslo agreement in 1993, and was only allowed into the country in 1998 following pressure practiced by late President, Yasser Arafat.

He then joined the Palestinian Preventative Security until he was kidnaped on May 28 2002, and faced numerous charges; some even date back to 1991 before the Oslo agreement was signed between Israel and the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO).

On June 2 2005, he was sentenced by an Israeli court to 25 years, but on April 22 2007, the Israeli Military Prosecution appealed the court ruling and the court sentenced him this time to 99 years imprisonment.

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