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JERUSALEM (Ma'an) -- Israeli forces detained at least 17 Palestinians in raids in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem on Wednesday night, also threatening a prisoner’s family with house demolition, Palestinian and Israeli sources said.

Locals told Ma’an that Israeli forces detained Salem al-Barbari from the al-Azza refugee camp in Bethlehem and Muhammad Ali Salah from the town of al-Khader west of Bethlehem.

Al-Azza lies in Area A, the 18 percent of the West Bank under full control of the Palestinian Authority. Although not uncommon, Israeli military activity is forbidden in Area A under the Oslo Accords, and has been the topic of recent demands by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

An Israeli army spokesperson said a total of 10 Palestinians were detained during overnight raids in the West Bank, confirming one arrest west of Bethlehem.

In the southern West Bank district of Hebron, locals reported that Israeli soldiers detained Firas Abu Snineh and Muhammad Fayiz al-Rajabi from the city of Hebron, as well as Talab Abu Fara and Majed Hmeidat from the town of Surif northwest of Hebron.

Israeli soldiers also raided the house of prisoner Sahban Wael al-Titi’s family in the village of al-Thahriya near Hebron early on Thursday, took pictures of the home, and threatened to demolish it.

Al-Titi caused the death of an Israeli settler in a car accident several months ago. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the fall fast-tracked punitive home demolitions in effort to “deter” attacks carried out by Palestinian individuals that have left nearly 30 Israelis dead since Oct. 1.

Several demolitions have been carried out since, despite past recommendations by an Israeli military committee that said the practice is not only ineffective in preventing attacks, but increases hostility towards Israel.

The Israeli army spokesperson said four Palestinians were detained in Hebron, and one southwest of Hebron.

Locals informed Ma’an that Ismail al-Anqawi, 13, was detained in the village of Beit Sira near Ramallah, while Malik Bilal was detained in the city of Qalqiliya in the northern West Bank.

The Israeli army spokesperson confirmed one detention northeast of Qalqiliya, and an additional three near the city of Jenin.

In occupied East Jerusalem, Israeli forces detained two women in the Old City and a student in the village of Abu Dis.

Local sources said Israeli forces detained a student at al-Quds University in Abu Dis, identified as Majdi Ataya.

Meanwhile, Tareq al-Hashlamoun told Ma’an that Israeli intelligence forces raided his family home in the Old City of Jerusalem and detained his mother, Um Tareq, 47, taking her to the al-Qishla police station for interrogation.

Al-Hashlamoun added that Israeli forces confiscated some of his mother’s belongings in the process.

Sources told Ma'an that Israeli forces also detained Ayda al-Sidawi, 54, in her home in the Old City of Jerusalem.

According to prisoners’ rights group Addameer, at least 7,000 Palestinians were held in Israeli prisons as of February, including 60 women and 550 prisoners from occupied East Jerusalem.
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by IMEMC News

The Palestinian Prisoners Society (PPS) has reported that the Israeli army invaded, Thursday, several Palestinian districts in the occupied West Bank, searched and ransacked homes, and kidnapped at least fourteen Palestinians.

The PPS said the soldiers invaded several towns in Hebron, and kidnapped five Palestinians, identified as Amjad Akram Rajabi, 22, Mohammad Abu Sneina, Firas Fayez Rajabi, Ahmad Majed Hmeidat, 22, and Talab Othman Abu Fara, 35.

The soldiers also invaded the northern West Bank district of Jenin, and kidnapped four Palestinians, identified as Mahmoud Amin Farahati, Mohammad Sa’id Sweity, Mohammad Mitleq Sa’adi and Omar Nayef Sa’adi.

In addition, the soldiers kidnapped two Palestinian women, identified as Dalal Hashlamoun and Aida Saidawi, in occupied Jerusalem.

The PPS also stated that the soldiers kidnapped Majdi Suleiman ‘Ataya and a child, identified as Ismael al-‘Anqawi, 11, in the Central West Bank district of Ramallah and Al-Biereh.

Another Palestinian, identified as Yousef Shehada Khalil, 21, from Nour Shams refugee camp, in the northern West Bank district of Tulkarem, was kidnapped at ‘Ennab military roadblock, after the soldiers stopped his car.

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