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JERUSALEM (Ma'an) -- Israeli forces detained at least 35 Palestinians in overnight raids across the occupied Palestinian territory between Wednesday and Thursday, including at least a dozen elderly Palestinians across occupied East Jerusalem.

Local Palestinian sources told Ma’an at least 18 people had been detained overnight in East Jerusalem, the majority of them over the age of 60.

Sheikh Azzam al-Khatib, the general director of the Jerusalem endowment overseeing the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, said that Israeli police detained for interrogation Sheikh Yasser Abu Ghazaleh and Amireh, both employees of the Islamic Endowment department.
Sources told Ma'an that Israeli forces detained Abu Ghazaleh after raiding his home in the Wadi al-Juz neighborhood, while Amireh was detained in his home in raiding his home in the neighborhood of Sur Bahir.

The head of a Jerusalem committee for prisoners said Israeli forces also detained Moussa al-Tamimi in Wadi al-Juz, Muhammad Amid Yassin, 68, in the Jabal al-Mukabbir neighborhood, and Muhammad Abu Srour in the neighborhood of Silwan.

Other detainees in East Jerusalem were identified as Hajj Mithqal al-Qaq, 70, Said Samrin, 70, Nabil al-Sharif, 70, Omar Samrin, 59, Taher Alah Arafeh, 63, Tawfiq Ghaith, 60, Abu Muhammad al-Joulani, 60, Ribhi Ghousheh, 63, Attiyeh Naim al-Syuri, 60, Abu Wissam al-Rajabi, 62, Sufyan Jadallah, 50, Mustafa Muhammad al-Salfiti, 67, and Akram al-Shurafa, 45.

Meanwhile, in the West Bank, Palestinian sources told Ma’an that six people had been detained in the Nablus district.

The seven were identified as Anas Hamdi, Muhammad Saleh Hamdan, and Ahmad al-Hajj Ali from the al-Ain refugee camp; and Ahmad Innab, Karajeh Jaarim, and Muhammad Mirshed al-Tirawi from the Balata refugee camp.

Elsewhere in the northern West Bank, locals reported that Adham Daraghmeh was detained in the city of Tubas.

In the central West Bank, Israeli forces detained Hajj Ghazi al-Ajouli during a raid of his currency exchange office in Ramallah. Israeli forces caused a fire during the raid while looking for alleged “terror funds.”

In the southern West Bank town of Dura, Israeli forces detained Mustafa Ismail Safi, 36, Jamal Hussein al-Awawdeh, and Ahmad Ishaq Mahmoud Abu Hashhash, 19, locals told Ma’an.

An Israeli army spokesperson confirmed to Ma’an 14 overnight detentions in the West Bank, listing one in Nablus, one north of Nablus, one in Tubas, two in Balata, and three in Dura.

She also cited two detentions in Qalqiliya, three in the town of Azzun southeast of Qalqiliya, and one southwest of Hebron.
According to prisoners’ rights group Addameer, 7,000 Palestinians were held in Israeli prisons as of February.

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