Description

BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) -- Israeli forces carried out multiple predawn detention raids across the occupied Palestinian territory between Monday and Tuesday and detained at least 23 Palestinians -- including two minors -- according to Palestinian and Israeli security sources.

Local sources said six were detained in the Hebron district towns of Beit Ummar, Beit Awwa, and Yatta in the southern occupied West Bank.

In Beit Ummar north of Hebron City, Israeli forces detained Muhammad Ibrahim Ali Abu Mariya, 17, Wasim Ibrahim Bahar, 16, and Anan Sidqi Muhammad Khalil, 17, the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society (PPS) said.

To the west of Hebron city, in Beit Awwa, Israeli forces detained Izz al-Din Masalma.

Meanwhile, in the town of Yatta south of Hebron, Israeli troops detained Husam Ahmad Makhamreh and Hani Ismail Makhamreh. Locals noted that Husam Makhamreh is a brother of Muhammad Makhamreh, who carried out a deadly shooting attack in Tel Aviv along with his cousin Khalid Makhamreh in June.

PPS also identified three other Palestinians -- Ismail Shaher Rayan, Fahed Issa Awwad, and Fatah member Zyad Iqab al-Nawaja, 40 -- as being detained in the Hebron district, without specifying the specific locations.

In the central occupied West Bank district of Ramallah, Palestinian security sources said that Israeli forces detained Abd al-Salam Fahim Abid from his home in al-Amari refugee camp.

PPS confirmed the detention, adding that brothers Moussa Assi, 48, and Naif Assi, 50, were also detained in the Ramallah and al-Bireh district.

In the northern Tubas district, three Palestinians were detained in the al-Faraa refugee camp, identified by locals and PPS as Abdullah Odeh, Sahir Odeh, 23, and his brother Hamza, 27.

Meanwhile, Hamada Abd al-Wahhab Abdullah was detained from his home in the village of Deir Ballut in the Salfit district, locals said.

In the northern city of Tulkarem, Israeli forces detained Thaer Bilal Ahmad, 25, and his brother Tamir, 22, from the Thinnaba neighborhood.

Israeli forces also detained Nur al-Din Qarariya from the village of al-Fandaqumiya south of Jenin in the northern West Bank. Local sources said he was detained at the Barta Israeli military checkpoint north of Jenin.

PPS also reported that three 17-year-old Palestinians were detained on Monday evening in occupied East Jerusalem, identifying them as Laith Abd al-Rabo, Bilal Hroub, and Mufid Saida.

An Israeli army spokesperson informed Ma’an that 16 total detentions had been made overnight in the occupied West Bank, including two near Jenin, three near Ramallah, four next to Bethlehem, five next to Hebron, and two near Jericho.

Israeli forces raid the occupied Palestinian territory on a near-nightly basis, with an average of 71 raids each week in 2016, according to UN documentation.

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

Features