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NABLUS (Ma'an) -- Israeli forces detained five Palestinians early Monday in raids across the West Bank, Palestinian security sources and the Israeli army said.

Palestinian security sources told Ma'an that Mutaz Said Ramadan, 22, and Nabil Ibrahim Mahmoud Asideh, 19, were arrested from their homes in the village of Tell in southern Nablus.

Israeli soldiers also reportedly searched a house belonging to Khalid Ismail Ramadan in Tell, and briefly held Hassan Khalid Hassan Issa, 21, and Jalal Khalid Hassan Issa, 14, from Salim village in eastern Nablus because they were riding an unlicensed motorcycle.

An Israeli army spokeswoman confirmed two arrests in Tell, saying the Palestinians were arrested because they were suspected of "illegal activity."

Separately, she said Israeli forces arrested one Palestinian west of Jenin and another in Hebron, claiming they were "Hamas operatives."

A Palestinian was also arrested southeast of Qalqiliya for "illegal activities," she said.

Israeli forces routinely detain Palestinians throughout the West Bank and East Jerusalem, often on the pretext of perceived security threats, with prisoner's rights group Addameer estimating that 40 percent of the Palestinian male population has been arrested at some point.

There are currently around 6,000 Palestinians being held in Israeli jails, the majority of whom are not given due process, rights groups say.
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by IMEMC & Agencies

Israeli soldiers kidnapped, Monday, five Palestinians, including a child and a former political prisoner, in different parts if the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem. The Israeli army claimed the child “carried an automatic weapon.”

Several Israeli military vehicles invaded Tal Village, southwest of the northern West Bank city of Nablus, and kidnapped two young men after breaking into their homes, and violently searching them while interrogating the families.

The kidnapped have been identified as Mo’taz Ahmad Ramadan, 22, and Nabil Ibrahim ‘Aseeda, 19 years of age.

Soldiers also invaded Burqin village, west of the northern West Bank city of Jenin, and kidnapped a former political prisoner identified as Mahmoud Ahmad ‘Obeidi, 33 years of age.

The family of the kidnapped Palestinian said the soldiers confiscated Mo’taz’s personal computer, and his mobile phone.

‘Obeidi is a former political prisoner who spent nine years in Israeli prisons and detention centers.

In occupied Jerusalem, soldiers kidnapped a Palestinian child, 15 years of age, after stopping him on the military roadblock in front of the Shu’fat refugee camp, and took him to an unknown destination.

In a statement to the press, the Israeli army claimed the child “carried a light-weight Carl Gustav automatic weapon.” The child was moved to an interrogation center in Jerusalem.

Another Palestinian, identified as Ahmad Salah Juneidi, 20 years of age, was kidnapped after the soldiers invaded his family home, in Ras al-Joura neighborhood, in the southern West Bank city of Hebron.

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