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Illustrative. File. Published by Maan News
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BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) -- Israeli forces launched predawn detention raids across the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem on Monday, detaining at least 26 Palestinians, according to Israeli and Palestinian sources, while the Israeli army also installed roadblocks in the southern occupied West Bank for unknown reasons.

The Palestinian Prisoner’s Society (PPS) reported that nine Palestinians were detained in occupied East Jerusalem and the Jerusalem district of the West Bank.

It said Adam Mahmoud, Samer Atiyeh, Ahmad Ubeid, Muhammad Mahmoud, Muhammad Atiyeh, and Ahmad Tarwa were detained in the neighborhood of Issawiya, while Mamduh Ajluni and Ahmad Badriya were detained in the Old City, and Mahmoud al-Zaghil was detained in Ras al-Amoud.

In the northern occupied West Bank district of Nablus, PPS reported that Israeli forces detained Raed Bahinjawi, Khalid Nimr Fayad, Naim Fathi Qandil, and Ahmad Othman Dweikat.

An Israeli army spokesperson told Ma'an that in the Nablus district, Israeli forces detained two Palestinians from the Balata refugee camp, three Palestinians from Askar refugee camp, and one from the village of Askar al-Balad.

Elsewhere in the northern West Bank, PPS said that Ahmad Nour Nour al-Din Rayan, 15, was detained in the Qalqiliya-area town of Azzun, while Taher Jamal Kamil was detained in the town of Qabatiya in the Jenin district.

The army confirmed one detention in Azzun.

In the southern occupied West Bank district of Bethlehem, PPS reported that Israeli forces detained Mahmoud Atallah Mashayekh, Ali Muhammad Abu Srour, Mahmoud Ibrahim al-Khatib, Anas Muhammad Taqatqa, and Uday Thabta.

The army reported that two Palestinians from Aida refugee camp were detained, while another was detained from the village of Beit Fajjar south of Bethlehem.

In the Hebron district, PPS that that Israeli forces detained a Palestinian girl identified as Thuraya Abu Sil, as well as Mahmoud Abu al-Zgharit in the al-Arrub refugee camp, while Muhammad Ahmad al-Hur was detained in Surif and Muhammad Abd al-Halim Sawaifa was detained in the old city of Hebron.

The army confirmed one detention from the town of Surif east of Hebron, and two from al-Arrub refugee camp.

Israeli media reports quoted an Israeli army source as saying the 13 were detained over alleged involvement in rock-throwing and "riots."

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, 720 of them held under administration detention without charge or trial, were detained in Israeli prisons as of October 2016.

Meanwhile, Israeli forces blocked off a main commuter entrance point leading to a number of villages west of Bethlehem in the southern occupied West Bank at around midnight Sunday evening for unknown reasons, a Palestinian security source said.

The source said that Israeli forces closed of the main road in both directions in the Aqbat Hasna area that leads to the villages of Husan, Battir, Nahalin, and Wadi Fukin.

Israeli forces have escalated security measures in the area recently by continuously imposing closures, the source added.

It remained unclear as of Monday morning whether the roadblocks were still in place.

An Israeli army spokesperson told Ma'an they were looking into reports.

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