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JERUSALEM (Ma’an) -- Israeli forces detained at least 31 Palestinians, including a blind and deaf man, in overnight raids in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, Israeli and Palestinian security sources said on Tuesday.

An 18-year-old Palestinian was detained in the Old City of occupied East Jerusalem on Monday night over suspicions that he was involved in a stabbing attack against an Israeli earlier that evening, police spokeswoman Luba al-Samri said.

The Palestinian Prisoner’s Society (PPS) said in a statement that a total of four Palestinians were detained in Jerusalem’s Old City, identifying three as them as Khalid al-Shaweesh, Sami Abu Rmeila, 15, and Adham Abu Nijmah. It remained unclear whether the 18 year old was among the three, or whether he was the fourth Palestinian, which PPS said remained unidentified.

Six others were detained in the al-Jadira and Bir Nabala villages of East Jerusalem, PPS added. The organization identified them as Diyaa Muhammad Shehadah, 20, Rashad Abd al-Fattah Barjas, 19, Muhammad Saed Barjas, 19, Tariq Abd al-Karim Barjas, 17, Muhammad Nizar Zayyan, 24, and Khalid Aziz Zeidan, 50.

Meanwhile, Palestinian security sources said two Palestinians were detained at an Israeli military checkpoint south of Nablus on Tuesday morning, while another had his identity documents seized.
They identified the detainees as Munir, Sami Abbad, 21, and Salih Farah Abbad, 19, while Israeli soldiers reportedly took the identity card of Abd al-Rahim Ali Abbad, 21.

PPS said Waddah Salih Ulayyan was also detained in the Nablus area.
The organization added that Muntasir Bilal Nimir Ajaj, 25, was detained in the northern West Bank area of Tulkarem, while three 20-years-old Palestinians, identified as Jamil Mustafa Tayyim, Mahmoud Mithqal Salih, and Muhammad al-Amin Kanaan, were detained in the village of Turmusayya north of Ramallah.

In the southern West Bank, Israeli forces detained Imad Ahmad al-Faqih, a 23-year-old blind and deaf man, and Udayy Hani Taqatqa from the village of Marah Rabah south of Bethlehem, PPS said.

It added that Muhsin Ahmad al-Juaba, 22, was detained in Hebron, while 40-year-old Nidal Bassam Tharifa was detained at the Allenby Bridge crossing between the West Bank and Jordan.

An Israeli army spokesperson told Ma’an that 19 Palestinians had been detained in the West Bank overnight.

She listed five detained south of the city of Ramallah, three north of Ramallah, two near Nablus, one east of Tulkarem, and one south of Jenin.

In the southern West Bank, she said two Palestinians were detained near the city of Bethlehem, and three near Hebron.

Meanwhile, Jerusalem Committee for Prisoners' Families head Amjad Abu Asab said on Monday that Israeli authorities had banned two Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem from entering the city for a month.

Abu Asab identified the two as Muhammad Shalabi, who was released on Sunday after 10 days in administrative detention, and Amjad Abu Sbeih, both residents of the Old City of Jerusalem.

According to prisoners’ rights group Addameer, 7,000 Palestinians are currently held in Israeli prisons. The organization estimates that around 40 percent of the Palestinian male population has been detained at some point in their lives.

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