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HEBRON (Ma’an) -- Israeli forces detained 28 Palestinians in search and arrest raids across the occupied West Bank early Wednesday, local residents and the Israeli army said.

Member of a popular committee in the town of Beit Ummar north of Hebron, Muhammad Ayyad Awad, told Ma’an that the forces flooded neighborhoods in the Hebron district, searching homes.

Awwad said the forces detained eight residents in Beit Ummar, including four minors.

Six of the detainees were indentified as Omar Muhammad Khalil Awad,14, Amr Riyad Issa Arrar,15, Rashid Yousef Bader Awad,16, Muhammad Nidal Amer Abu Maria,16, Ayesh Khalid Sabri Awad,19, and Okal Mahmoud Yousef Ahmad Jawabra,19.

Awad added that soldiers stormed al-Fawwar refugee camp, detaining Isaac Hudaib, Sari abu Hashhash and Ali Waleed Naim.
Forces also detained Adham Abdul-Salam al Tarda from Hebron’s Taffouh area.

An Israeli army spokesperson confirmed five arrests in the Hebron district, among 28 total Palestinians detained in the West Bank for “illegal activity.”

Search and arrest raids -- this year’s weekly average numbering over 80 according to UN documentation -- have increased since the beginning of October following attempted, alleged, and actual attacks carried out by Palestinians on Israeli military and civilians.

Human Rights Watch last year criticized Israel for large-scale violations often carried out during arrest campaigns.

Violations included arbitrary arrest, excessive use of force against residents who did not pose sufficient threat for the lethal use of force, and damage to property and homes.

Recent raids are among several measures implemented by Israeli forces that have targeted the Hebron area in particular.

Residents in the area have reported road closures, sealing of entrances to villages, home demolitions, flying checkpoints, and curfews over the last month.
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by IMEMC News & Agencies

At least 35 Palestinians were abducted by Israeli troops across various occupied West Bank districts, mostly during night and predawn raids, according to local and security sources.

Israeli forces stormed the village of Hazma, to the east of Jerusalem, where they detained 10 Palestinians, seized caravans owned by a local car show, and removed a number of carwash operations situated along the main street of the village. The army also raided around 30 homes in the village, according to WAFA.

The 10 were identified as Ahmad Askar, Orwah Askar, Jaber Najib, Raja’i Najib, Daoud Najib, Fadi Najib, Jihad Salaheddine, Kefah Rezeq, Ismail Khatib, and Osama Eissa.

Israeli police also reportedly detained Palestinian human rights attorney Tareq Barghouth, from Jerusalem, but later released him on bail.

Meanwhile, in the Hebron district, Israeli troops kidnapped Isac Abu-Badran, aged 28, in al-Arroub refugee camp; Anas Abu-Hashahash, 30, from nearby al-Fawwar refugee camp, Adham Taradi, 17, from Taffuh, and Abdullah Zaidat, 20, from Bani Na’im town.

Forces also broke into the town of Beit Ummar and took eight Palestinian minors after raiding and searching their families' homes. They were identified as Ayesh Awad, 19, Rashed Awad, 16, Omar Khalil, Amr Arar, 15, Mohammad Abu-Ayyash, 17, Ali Abu-Ayyash, 15, Mohammad Abu-Maria, 16, and Okal Jawabreh, 19.

Other detainees in Hebron were identified as Omar Masalmeh, 16, Arwad Awad, 17, Omar Ekhlail, 14, Omar Arar, 15, and Izzeddin Sarsour.

Army forces and intelligence officers also summoned a teenager from the town of Taffuh to appear for interrogation.

Israeli troops further stormed Askar refugee camp in Nablus, where they abducted a local Palestinian identified as Hazem Nadi, after raiding his house and sabotaging its furniture. They also stormed the house of Maram Hassouneh, a Palestinian teenager who was shot dead by Israeli soldiers on Tuesday, but there were no reports of arrests.

In the Tulkarem district, Israeli soldiers detained 18-year-old Belal Abu-Elayya, from the village of Shofa, while he was present on his private-owned land near the village; also taken into custody was Abdur-Rahim Abu-Kamla, from nearby Attil town.

Meanwhile, Israeli forces stormed Qalandia refugee camp, north of Jerusalem, where they detained Hassan Zeyadeh, 25, a local Palestinian. In Ramallah district, army forces broke into the village of Deir Ammar and additionally kidnapped three Palestinians, identified as Samer Assi, Lo’ai Safi, and Hussein Abdul-Qader.

The Palestinian Prisoners’ Society (PPS) said that Israeli forces detained three children from Qalqilia before they were released a few hours later. The three were identified as Ahmad Atawneh, 11, Izzeddin Nofal, 12, and Yazan Rahayleh, 13.

In the meantime, Israeli police also took a teenager from Qabatia, in the Arab town of Shefa Amr, in Israel, after being caught entering Israel without a permit, in order to seek work.

'Israel has strict criteria for the approval of work permits and issues no more permits than the number fixed in an occasionally revised quota,' noted the human rights center, B'Tselem, in a story published in April of 2014.

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Also on Wednesday, Israeli army forces closed the entrance of the town of Beit Jala, near Bethlehem, according to security sources.

The sources said that the army closed the metal gate placed at the town’s western entrance, cutting it off from the city and surrounding villages.

Since early October of 2015, Israel has intensified its security procedures across the West Bank, including Jerusalem, as tensions and violent unrest continued to engulf the region, triggered by Israel's repeated attempts to temporally divide occupied East Jerusalem's al-Aqsa mosque compound.

The almost daily intensified checkpoints have suffocated Palestinian towns and villages; tremendous traffic jams and delays to daily livelihoods have been witnessed across the West Bank since the beginning of the unrest, in early October.

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