Description

Illustrative photo, published by Maan News
______

HEBRON (Ma’an) -- At least 25 Palestinians were detained in raids from Monday evening to the early morning hours on Tuesday, as Israeli forces stormed multiple villages and cities across the occupied West Bank, and sealed off the main road to the southern city of Hebron.

Israeli forces raided the Hebron-area villages of Sair, Surif, and Dura around dawn on Tuesday, where they detained five young Palestinian men.

Locals in Surif told Ma’an that Israeli troops stormed the village and surrounded the home of Ahmad Muhammad Hussein Abu Farah and fired gunshots at the house.

The soldiers then summoned Abu Farah over the loudspeakers to walk out and turn himself in, to which he complied. The soldiers then took Abu Farah into custody and transported him to an unknown location.

Another young man from Surif identified as Marwan Mahmoud al-Heeh was also detained from his home after Israeli soldiers broke into the house.

In the town of Sair, locals said Israeli troops detained Musab Izzat Shalalda, 30, after breaking into several homes in the area.

Israeli troops also stormed the eastern village of Dura, where they detained two young men identified by locals as Muhammad Ibeyush and Ayman Tbeish, and ransacked the home of Muhammad Faqih.

The soldiers also confiscated a private vehicle which belonged to Faqih, who was killed last week when Israeli forces bombarded a home with bulldozers and anti-tank missiles while he was inside, concluding a weeks-long manhunt after a deadly shooting attack last month.

Faqih, from the city of Dura, was accused of carrying out a drive-by shooting on July 1 south of the illegal Israeli settlement of Otniel in the Hebron district, which left one Israeli settler dead and three injured.

In the wake of the shooting -- which occurred within 48 hours of a series of deadly incidents in Hebron that left one Israeli girl killed in her home, her attacker shot dead, and another Palestinian woman killed by Israeli forces in a separate incident, the entire district was placed under the most extensive lockdown in the West Bank since 2014.

Israeli forces also detained a number of Faqih's relatives in recent detention raids.

Following Faqih’s killing last Tuesday, which occurred in the village of Surif where he had been hiding, Israeli forces began to ease the large-scale military closures nearly a month after they were imposed.

However, a reported iron-gate closure of the main northern entrance of Hebron on Monday evening marked a turning point in what seemed like a lift on mobility restrictions in the largest and most populous district of the occupied West Bank. Witnesses also said that Israeli forces had set up several military checkpoints across the city of Hebron to inspect vehicles.
An Israeli army spokesperson said she was looking into reports of additional checkpoints.

Meanwhile, the Israeli army spokesperson office confirmed two detentions in Surif, claiming they were Hamas operatives, one detention in al-Samu south of Hebron, and said she was looking into reports of the main road closure.

The Palestinian Prisoner's Society (PPS) released a statement citing two more detentions in the Hebron district, and identified the detainees as Muhammad Breweish and Muhammad Daghamin.

According to locals, Israeli forces also stormed the village Farun south of Tulkarem in the northern occupied West Bank on Monday evening, where they detained four young men.

Local council member Amir Awad told Ma’an that after Israeli troops ransacked several homes and internet cafes in the center of the village, they detained Shadi Talat Theimir, 27, Muhammad Ayman Salameh, 22, Anas Ahmad Ubeid, 31, and his brother, Hamza Ahmad Ubeid, 24.

Witnesses said a group of undercover Israeli forces entered the village in a civilian vehicle where they attacked a house and blew up its main door.
Shortly thereafter, large numbers of Israeli military vehicles stormed the village near the separation wall, to seemingly provide back up to the undercover officers.

Palestinian security sources said the undercover officers and soldiers were on a mission to detain Malik Ahmad Ubeid, for reasons they did not specify.

The mission reportedly failed as Ubeid was not in the home, and Israelis forces then reportedly detained his two brothers Anas and Hamza. The sources highlighted that it wasn't the first time Israeli forces had failed to detain Ubeid.

Locals from the village of Anabta east of Tulkarem said Israeli forces broke into home of 34-year-old Mahmoud Muhammad Abu al-Asal around dawn time and detained him.

An Israeli army spokesperson said she was looking into reports of the raids and detentions in Farun, adding that Israeli forces detained one Palestinian near Nablus, one in Beit Liqya in the Ramallah district, one in the town of Hizma in the Jerusalem district, and one in Deir Nidham near Ramallah.

PPS identified three detainees in the Ramallah district as Najib Mafarja, Yousif al-Khatib and Fathi Hammad. They also identified three detainees from the Bethlehem district as Badr Abu Jalghif, Raed Ayish and Abd el-Halim Najajra.

According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Israeli forces conducted a weekly average of 81 search and detention operations across the occupied territory since the beginning of the year.

Prisoners’ rights group Addameer put the number of Palestinians who were held in Israeli prisons at 7,000 as of May.
____

by IMEMC News

he Palestinian Prisoners Society (PPS) has reported that Israeli soldiers have kidnapped, on Tuesday at dawn, 21 Palestinians in different parts of the occupied West Bank. The soldiers also assaulted one of the Al-Aqsa Mosque guards, in occupied Jerusalem.

In Hebron, in the southern part of the occupied West Bank, the soldiers invaded and violently searched several homes and kidnapped six Palestinians, including a teenage girl, and a former political prisoner.

It said the kidnapped have been identified as former political prisoner Ayman Tbeish, Ali Mohammad Barweesh, Mohammad Ata Daghameen, Ahmad Mohammad Abu Fara, Marwan Mahmoud al-Heeh and Wala’ Ayman al-Mahareeq, 18.

In Tulkarem, in the northern part of the West Bank, the soldiers also invaded and searched homes and kidnapped five Palestinians, identified as Anas Ahmad Obeid, 31, his brother Hamza, 24, Mohammad Amin Ayesh, 22, Shadi Tal’at Tahmeer, 27, and Mahmoud Abdul-Fattah Abu al-‘Asal, 34.

In Jenin, also in the northern part of the West Bank, the soldiers kidnapped Abdul-Halim Yassin, Mo’tasem Yousef Dawahda, and two siblings identified as Odai and Mohammad Mallah, after searching their homes.

In the central West Bank district of Ramallah, the army stormed and searched homes, and kidnapped three Palestinians, identified as Najeeb Mafarja, Yousef Mohammad Khatib and Fathi Sharif Hammad.

In Bethlehem, the soldiers kidnapped three Palestinians identified as Bader Mohammad Abu Jalgheef, Abdul-Halim Najajra and a former political prisoner, identified as Raed ‘Ayesh, 31.

In related news, dozens of soldiers and fanatic Israeli colonists stormed the courtyards of the Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied Jerusalem, before a number of soldiers assaulted a mosque guard, identified as Majd Abdin, causing various cuts and bruises.

Eyewitnesses said the attack took place near the Chain Gate, one of the gates of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, and that the wounded guard was moved to the mosque clinic for treatment.

They added that the soldiers started smoking in the mosque, shouted insults at many Muslim worshipers, while dozens of Israeli extremists invaded its courtyards and conducted provocative tours.

Also on Tuesday, the soldiers shot and injured two Palestinians in Nablus, and demolished a car dealership and two sheds in Sur Baher, southeast of occupied East Jerusalem.

Features