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Photo:
Aziz Ghassan Oleyyan - Silwanic
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by IMEMC News

Israeli soldiers invaded, earlier on Monday, a number of Palestinian communities in occupied East Jerusalem, searched several homes, and kidnapped five Palestinians, including three children between the ages of 12 and 15.

The Wadi Hilweh Information Center (Silwanic), in Silwan town in occupied East Jerusalem, has reported that the soldiers broke into, and violently searched, several homes in the al-'Eesawiyya town, and the Old City, before kidnapping the five Palestinians, and took them to an interrogation facility.

The soldiers kidnapped Issa Farawy, 13 years of age, and Nasri Farawi, 15, from their homes in the Old City, after searching their families' homes, causing property damage.

Mohammad Abu al-Hummus of the Follow-up Committee in the al-'Eesawiyya town, said the soldiers also invaded and searched several homes in different parts of the town, and kidnapped 'Aziz Ghassan 'Oleyyan, 12 years of age, Mohammad Ibrahim 'Oleyyan, 19, and a young man identified as Mahmoud Mustafa.

Abu al-Hummus added that, late on Sunday at night, the soldiers invaded the town, installed a monitoring tower and a surveillance balloon, on the main entrance of the town, while dozens of soldiers were deployed in the area.

Earlier on Monday at dawn, several army vehicles invaded Teqoua' town, and Nahhalin village, in the West Bank district of Bethlehem, violently searched a number of homes, and summoned five Palestinians for interrogation.

The five have been identified as Yousef Jamal Sabah, 16, Mahmoud Salem Mahmoud, 16, and Samir Salem Sabah, 16, from Teqoua', in addition to Mohammad 'Ezzat Shakarna and his son, 'Ezz, in Nahhalin. They were ordered to head to the Etzion base for interrogation.

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BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- Israeli forces detained at least 16 Palestinians in occupied East Jerusalem and the West Bank overnight Sunday, the Israeli army and locals said.

In East Jerusalem, Israeli forces detained five Palestinians after raiding their homes in al-Issawiya and the Old City. Issa Farawi, 13, and Nasri Farawi, 15, were detained in the Old City and taken to a police station for questioning.

Aziz Ghassan Alyan, 12, Mohammed Ibrahim Alyan, 19, and Mahmoud Mustafa were detained in al-Issawiya after Israeli forces raided the neighborhood.

A local official said that Israeli forces have been targeting the neighborhood in recent weeks and have set up an aerial device at the entrance to the area to monitor activity.

In Beit Ummar, in the occupied West Bank, Israel's army detained Yousef Abu Ayyash, 23, Sami Abu Judeh, 20, and Hasan Mohammad Hasan, 19, while Fuad Nawaja, 28, was detained in Yatta.

Israeli forces also detained a Palestinian woman, Najwan Odeh, from al-Bireh in Ramallah early Monday after ransacking her home in a southern suburb of the city.

Odeh works at Qatar Charity and is a presenter at Women FM Radio in Ramallah.

An Israeli army spokeswoman confirmed that a total of 11 Palestinians were detained in the West Bank overnight, two in Jenin, four in Nablus, two in Ramallah and three in Bethlehem.

Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem are routinely arrested by Israeli military forces, usually on the pretext of security questioning.

Nearly 6,000 Palestinian prisoners are currently being held in Israeli jails, according to prisoners' rights group Addameer.

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