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Photo: file Published by Maan News
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JERUSALEM (Ma’an) -- In the wake of a deadly shooting attack in Jerusalem on Sunday, Israeli forces carried out massive raids across different neighborhoods of occupied East Jerusalem and the larger Jerusalem district, where they detained some 39 Palestinians, at least nine of whom were minors, according to Palestinian and Israeli sources.

The Palestinian Prisoner’s Society (PPS) said in a statement on Monday that Israeli forces detained 39 Palestinians from Jerusalem, including the daughter and father of Misbah Abu Sbeih, the man who was killed by Israeli forces after he shot dead two Israelis and injured at least five others in the occupied East Jerusalem on Sunday.

PPS identified the other 37 Jerusalemites who were detained as Abdullah Badr Abu Assab, 14, Yousif Issa Mustafa, 16, Adam Fadi Mustafa,16, Khalid Abu Ghoush, 17, Salih Badr Abu Assab, 16, Raed Yousif Darwish, 16, Uday al-Shaer, 18, Nayif Ahmad al-Khatib, 18, Muhammad Maher Damdoum, 24, Judah Abu Juma, Fahd al-Shalabi, Omar Hirbawi, Arin Zaanin, Amir al-Balbisi, Muhammad Khweis, Nur al-Din Abu al-Hawa, Ayoub Abu Ghannam, Muhammad Abu Ghannam, Muhammad al-Shalabi, Mahmoud Muna, Samer Abu Qadous, Ibrahim Suleiman Sanduqa, Mutaz Suleiman Sanduqa, Ramzi Muhammad Jabaa, Hani Mahlus, Nihad Zgheir, Nasser Qawas, Aboud Hadad, Rohi Kalghasi, Abdullah Daana, Wisam Hijazi, Omar Ibrahim, Muhammad Daqaq, Mahmoud Ghaith, Ahmad Shaweesh, Tariq Abu Sbeih and Sharif Taha.
Muhammad Mahmoud, a lawyer for prisoners rights group Addameer, told Ma’an that of the detainees, nine were under the age of 18.

He identified the minors as Abdullah Abu Assab, his brother Salih, Adam Mustafa, Yousif Mustafa, Khalid Abu Ghoush, Ayoub Abu Ghannam, Raed Darwish, Muhammad Abu Ghannam, Muhammad Khweis.

According to a statement by Israeli police spokeswoman Luba al-Samri, since the Sunday morning attack, Israeli police detained 15 young Palestinian men from the East Jerusalem neighborhoods of al-Tur, al-Issawiya and Wadi Joz.

Israeli forces also raided on Sunday two homes in the villages of al-Ram and Kafr Aqab belonging to the Abu Sbeih family, located in the Jerusalem district of the occupied West Bank.

Members of Abu Sbeih's family told Ma'an that large numbers of Israeli troops raided a building in al-Ram where Abu Sbeih had been residing, and another in Kafr Aqab owned by Abu Sbeih and his brother Jabir in the early hours on Sunday.

The relatives said that army engineers took indoor and outdoor measurement of the houses, "using laser techniques and digging holes in the walls," seemingly in preparation to punitively demolish the home.

Since a wave of unrest swept across the Palestinian territory and Israel in October 2015, 232 Palestinians have been killed by Israelis while carrying out attacks or allegedly attempting to carry out attacks on Israeli targets, or during clashes with Israeli forces during raids in Palestinian communities. Some 34 Israelis have been killed by Palestinians during the same time period.

In response to Israeli deaths, Israeli authorities have imposed severe punitive measures on the Palestinian population, targeting the towns and villages of slain suspects in overnight detentions, demolishing their homes, and withholding the bodies of Palestinians that have been killed.

Israeli forces have also routinely sealed entire villages from where the suspects originated and revoked permits of their residents to enter and work in Israel, affecting up to hundreds of thousands of uninvolved civilians.

Israel’s response to attacks has been condemned by rights groups, who have said the measures amount to “collective punishment” and “court-sanctioned revenge,” and represent a clear violation of international law.
According to prisoners rights group Addameer, 7,000 Palestinians were held in Israeli prisons as of August, 500 of whom were from East Jerusalem.