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NABLUS (Ma'an) -- Israeli forces detained two Palestinians during raids into the northern West Bank city of Nablus and the nearby Balata refugee camp overnight Sunday.

Palestinian security sources told Ma'an that several Israeli military vehicles entered Balata after midnight, where soldiers ransacked several homes before taking into custody 31-year-old Muhammad Salah Hijazi.

Separately, Israeli soldiers raided al-Dahiya neighborhood of Nablus near Balata camp and detained a Palestinian journalist 32-year-old Ahmad al-Bitawi.

An Israeli army spokeswoman confirmed the arrests, saying that both men were "operatives in Hamas."

Israeli forces routinely detain Palestinians throughout the West Bank, often on the pretext of perceived security threats, and Addameer estimates that 40 percent of the Palestinian male population has been arrested at some point.

More than 6,000 Palestinian prisoners are currently being held in Israeli jails.

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