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BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) -- Israeli forces detained at least 22 Palestinians in overnight raids in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem on Monday, Israeli and Palestinian sources told Ma’an.

Local sources told Ma'an that at least four Palestinian minors from East Jerusalem were detained by Israeli security forces. They were identified as Mahdi Abu Assab,13, Abdullah Jolani,15, Muhammad Salaymah,15, and Omar Muna,17.

An Israeli army spokesperson told Ma’an that they had detained 18 people overnight, including three people in Tulkarem, and three in Huwwara south of Nablus.

Local sources identified on of the Tulkarem detainees as Wael Khalil Hali, and two of those detainees from Huwwara as Izz al-Din Shehadeh and Muhammad Odeh.

The Israeli army also said it had detained two Palestinians in Qabatiya south of Jenin -- identified by Ma’an as Muhammad Kamil and Muhammad Abu al-Rub -- and one near al-Jalama north of Jenin.

Qabatiya has been the site of serious tensions in the past week after Israeli security forces implemented a three-day blockade of the village.

Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah had denounced the siege as “collective punishment” after three youths from Qabatiya killed an Israeli border police officer in Jerusalem. The blockade has since been lifted, but Israeli authorities have since revoked the work permits of a number of Qabatiya residents

The Israeli army spokesperson also said six people had been detained in the Bethlehem area, notably citing two detentions in the Aida refugee camp north of Bethlehem -- identified by Ma’an as Jamil Malash and Muhammad al-Dibs -- and one south of Bethlehem.

Another three people were detained in the village of al-Khader west of Bethlehem, identified as Mujahid Dadu and Rami Abu Hammad.
One person was detained in the village of Surif north of Hebron, and another, Hatem Ahmad Sweti, in Beit Awwa west of Hebron.

Meanwhile, the Israeli spokesperson said two “Hamas operatives” were detained from the Qalandiya refugee camp and south of Qalqiliya.

Sources identified the two men as Atef Mteer from Qalandiya and Zuhdi Abdullah from the village of Deir Ballut.

According to Palestinian prisoners’ rights organization Addameer, 6,800 Palestinians were detained by Israel as of December, at least 660 of them in administrative detention.

Israeli forces routinely detain Palestinians throughout the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, often on the pretext of perceived security threats. Addameer estimates that around 40 percent of the Palestinian male population in the West Bank and East Jerusalem has been detained at some point.
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by IMEMC News

Israeli soldiers invaded, on Monday at dawn, several areas in the occupied West Bank, broke into and searched many homes, and kidnapped at least nine Palestinians.

The soldiers invaded Qabatia town, south of the northern West Bank city of Jenin, and kidnapped Mohammad Rashed Kamil and Mohammad Ziad Abu ar-Rob, after searching their homes and interrogating them, along with their families.

The soldiers also invaded Tulkarem refugee camp, in the northern West Bank district of Tulkarem, and kidnapped a former political prisoner, identified as Wael Khalil Abdul-Latif Habali, 25.

In addition, the soldiers kidnapped Bilal Mansour Tarayra, from Bani Neim town, east of the southern West Bank city of Hebron, while he was working in Jerusalem.

Also, the army invaded several homes in the al-Fawwar refugee camp, south of Hebron, Beit Awwa, Dir Samit and Sa’ir towns, in addition to installing roadblocks on main roads leading to Halhoul and Sa’ir towns, Hebron’s northern entrances, before stopping and searching dozens of cars and interrogating the passengers.

In Bethlehem, the soldiers invaded al-Khader town, south of the city, searched homes and kidnapped Shehada Mohammad Salah, 19, Mohammad Rezeq Salah, 20, and Mojahed Yassin Da’doa’, only 15 years of age.

Two Palestinians, identified as Jamil Riyad Mallash, 20, and Mohammad Fayez Talal, 15, after the soldiers invaded and searched their homes in ‘Aida refugee camp, north of Bethlehem.

In related news, the soldiers closed Huwwara and Za’tara roadblocks, south of the northern West Bank city of Nablus, forcing the residents to take unpaved alternate roads.

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