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JERUSALEM (Ma’an) -- Israeli forces detained at least 25 Palestinians, including several minors and a physically handicapped person, across the occupied Palestinian territory and Israel overnight Monday and before dawn on Tuesday, according to Palestinian and Israeli sources.
East Jerusalem and the Bethlehem district

The Palestinian Prisoner’s Society (PPS) reported in a statement that eight Palestinians, three of whom minors, were detained from different towns and neighborhoods of occupied East Jerusalem.

The statement identified them as Wasim Dari, 17, Moussa Muhammad Dabai, 16, Ihab Ibrahim Srour, 16, Muhammad Nadi Hashlamoun, Amin Raafat Ubeid, Issa Muhammad Abu Rayala, Abdullah al-Qawasmi, and Sami Nasser al-Din.

Israeli police spokeswoman Luba al-Samri said in a statement that Israeli police carried out an "intensive arrest campaign" in occupied East Jerusalem's Shufat refugee camp, Ras al-Amoud and al-Issawiya neighborhoods, as well as in the Aida refugee camp in Bethlehem.

The statement said that nine Palestinians were detained in the Jerusalem and Bethlehem raids, and that the detainees were suspected of "involvement in peace-disturbing activities" including throwing stones, firebombs and Molotov cocktails at Israelis.

“Some of the detainees are also suspected of shooting gunshots during weddings,” al-Samri noted, speaking of a celebratory custom at Palestinian weddings and special occasions across the occupied territory.

In the Bethlehem district, PPS reported that three Palestinians were detained, and identified them as former detainee Daoud Sharara, Omar al-Badir, who the group said was a minor, and 55-year-old Asaad al-Masaaid, who is physically handicapped and uses a wheelchair to move around.

Hebron district

Before dawn on Tuesday, Israeli forces raided the southern occupied West Bank towns of Yatta and Beit Ummar in the Hebron area, and detained four Palestinians from the district.

In Beit Ummar, Israeli forces stormed the Khallat al-Ein and Asidat al-Thahir neighborhoods and ransacked several homes before detaining Yousif Muhammad Zaaqiq, 26, PPS said.

In Yatta, local sources told Ma’an that Israeli troops ransacked and inspected several homes in the town, belonging to Ayish Moussa Zein, Ali Abu Ubeid, Ibrahim Issa al-Shawahin, Iyad Mahmoud Rashid, Jawad Ibrahim Nawaja, and Alaa Ismail Awad.

Israeli troops also closed down a blacksmith workshop in Yatta, claiming that it was used for manufacturing weapons.

Local popular committee spokesman Muhammad Ayyad Awad added that Israeli troops delivered an interrogation summons to Hassan Yousif Alqam, 27, demanding that he go to the Gush Etzion interrogation center for questioning by Israeli intelligence.

Awad added that Israeli forces also ransacked the home of Zuheir Mahmoud al-Alami and asked about his son Muhannad, 19, who has been in Israeli custody for three months.

According to Awad, al-Alami had to show the soldiers an indictment from the Israeli military court to convince them that his son was already in Israeli custody.

PPS said that Alaa Ismael Awad, 23, Muhammad Khalid Muhammad Abu Rabi, 22, and Jawad Ibrahim Ahmad Nawajaa were also detained in the Hebron district.

Ramallah district

According to PPS, Israeli forces raided the Ramallah district and detained two Palestinians, who it identified as 17 year-old Khalid al-Masri and Sahir Afif.

An Israeli army spokesperson told Ma’an that Israeli forces had detained five Palestinians in the Ramallah area.

Jenin and Tulkarem districts

In the northern occupied West Bank, PPS reported that Faris Hamarsha was detained from Jenin, while Amjad Muhammad Hussein Abu Sanad was detained from Tulkarem.

An Israeli army spokesperson confirmed one detention from Jenin.
Israel

PPS added that three Palestinians from West Bank were detained inside Israel, for unspecified reasons. The three were identified as Ahmad Abd al-Latif Zakarna, Khalid Walid Zakarna and Mahmoud Hani Zakarna.

Israeli forces conduct night raids across the occupied Palestinian territory on a near-daily basis. According to UN documentation, the Israeli army carried out 178 detention raids from Oct. 4 to 17.

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

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