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RAMALLAH (Ma’an) -- Israeli forces detained at least 20 Palestinians in predawn raids across the occupied Palestinian territory on Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, Palestinian and Israeli security sources said.

In occupied East Jerusalem, Israeli forces reportedly detained three Palestinians in the neighborhood of Issawiya, identified by locals as Abdullah Mustafa, Muhammad Amir Mustafa, and Muhammad Nasser Mahmoud.

In the occupied West Bank, Palestinian security sources said that three Palestinians -- identified as Abd al-Rahman Mustafa Hamid, Abd al-Rahim Bassam Hammad, and Ibrahim Abd al-Aziz Hamid -- were detained in the Ramallah district village of Silwad.

Elsewhere in the Ramallah district, Palestinian sources said that Israeli forces detained Omar Ahmad al-Makin in the village of Deir Abu Mashaal.
An Israeli army spokesperson confirmed the detention in Deir Abu Mashaal, adding that the army had records of 13 overnight detentions.

In the northern West Bank, Palestinian sources said that Israeli troops detained Muayyad al-Jallad in the city of Tulkarem, Layth al-Ashqar in the village of al-Saaida in the Jenin district, and Ahmad Raed Amira in the city of Nablus.

The Israeli army confirmed the three detentions, adding that two suspected “Hamas operatives” had been detained in Nablus and another Palestinian had been detained in the Tulkarem-area town of Shweika.

According to Palestinian sources, al-Jallad had previously served 19 years in Israeli prisons, and had been released in a prisoner swap deal between Israel and Hamas in 2011.

In the southern West Bank, Palestinian security sources recorded three men detained in the Bethlehem-area village of Tuqu -- identified as Shadi Nayif al-Umour, Sabir Ribhi al-Umour, and Jumaa Khalid Abu Mufarrih -- as well as Muhammad Ahmad al-Qazzaz, Yousif Mahir Mallugh, 14, from the town of Beit Awwa in the Hebron district.

The Israeli army confirmed three detentions in Tuqu and one in Beit Awwa, adding that two more Palestinians had been detained in Dura and one in Idhna in the Hebron district.

Israeli forces also raided the city of Hebron and the nearby towns of Sair and Shuyyukh, ransacking several homes and raiding three lathing workshops.

The owners of the workshops in Hebron said that Israeli soldiers welded the doors of their workshops shut, but did not detain anyone, despite the army’s claims that the workshops were being used to manufacture weapons.

Locals said clashes broke out between the soldiers and young Palestinian men, although no casualties were reported.

According to prisoners’ rights group Addameer, 7,000 Palestinians were held in Israeli prisons as of May. The group estimates that 40 percent of Palestinian men have been detained by Israel at some point in their lives.

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