Description

Photo:
Scene. Published by Maan News
_____

BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) -- Israeli forces detained at least 23 Palestinians, including a Hamas-affiliated MP and a prominent former hunger-striking prisoner, between Sunday evening and Monday before dawn in the occupied West Bank, Palestinian and Israeli sources said.

The Palestinian Prisoner’s Society (PPS) reported that 15 Palestinians were detained in the central West Bank district of Ramallah, including Palestinian Legislative Council member Ahmad Mubarak from the al-Bireh town.

The Israeli army also detained six other Hamas members in the Ramallah district, identified as writer Walid al-Houdali and Sheikh Falah Abdullah Nada in al-Bireh; Sheikh Ibrahim Abu Al-Sabi and Muhammad Ali Qaraan in Beituniya; and Omar Nahed al-Barghouthi and Mahmoud Yousif al-Barghouthi in Deir Ghassana.

An Israeli army spokesperson confirmed to Ma’an one detention in al-Bireh, three in Beituniya, and two in Deir Ghassana.

PPS also mentioned the detention of former hunger-striking prisoner Muhammad al-Qiq, who was detained on Sunday evening at a checkpoint on his way back from a protest.

PPS identified the other detainees in the Ramallah district as Jihad Mansour Karaja, Shujaa Darwish, Muhammad al-Dahla, Yousif Elayyan, Luay Nather Ahmad Saleh, Saeb Fahmi Salim, Yousif Shafiq Abd al-Karim, and Yazan Jad Mansour.

Locals reported that Karaja and Darwish were detained in the village of Saffa, while Dahla and Elayyan were detained in Budrus, Saleh in Kobar, and Salim in Rantis.

In Saffa, Israeli forces reportedly seized thousands of shekels claiming the money belonged to terrorist groups.

The army mentioned only one detention in Saffa, one in Kobar, one in Rantis, and none in Budrus.

However, the spokesperson said that two Palestinians were detained in Birzeit, and one other in al-Tira.

In the northern West Bank district of Nablus, PPS reported that Israeli forces detained Allam Sayil Ribhi Hassan, 33, and his brother Ribhi Hassan, 39, in Qusra, as the army confirmed two detentions in the village.
In the central West Bank district of Jerusalem, the army spokesperson mentioned one detention in Abu Dis, which was not mentioned by PPS.

In the southern West Bank, PPS reported that Israeli forces detained Ubeida Adel al-Shaer, 17, in the village of Husan, a detention confirmed by the army.

Meanwhile, locals said that Israeli forces detained Abd al-Nasser Abd al-Hamid Abu Maria, 18, in the Hebron-area village of Beit Ummar. The Israeli army confirmed a detention in Beit Ummar.

Israeli forces also reportedly shut down a workshop in al-Arrub refugee camp north of Hebron, claiming that it was used to manufacture weapons, breaking its doors and confiscating machinery and tools.

PPS, which documents overnight raids by Israeli forces, said in a statement earlier this month that it had recorded the detention of 100 Palestinians, including 18 minors, in the first five days of 2017.

Israeli forces carry out detention raids across the occupied Palestinian territory on a near-nightly basis, with the UN recording an average of 95 weekly raids in the West Bank in 2016.

According to prisoners’ rights group Addameer, 7,000 Palestinians were held in Israeli prisons as of October 2016.

Features