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BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) – Israeli forces detained at least nine Palestinians, including two boys, in predawn military raids across the occupied West Bank on Tuesday, according to Israeli and Palestinian sources.

An Israeli army spokesperson told Ma’an that Israeli forces detained a total of seven Palestinians overnight.

They listed one detention in the Jenin-district village of Faqqua, three detentions in the Bethlehem district -- two in the Aida refugee camp and one in the village of Beit Sahour -- and three more in the Hebron district -- two in al-Arrub refugee camp and one in Sair.

An army statement said that the Palestinian detained in Beit Sahour was accused of throwing stones from a vehicle at Israeli settlers' cars. The Palestinian vehicle was confiscated.

Meanwhile, the Lajee Center, a local organization in Aida, identified the two Palestinians detained in the Bethlehem-area refugee camp as Muhammad and Anas Masaaid, adding that they were 12 and 13 years old.

Local Palestinian sources also told Ma'an that Israeli forces had detained two young Palestinians from the villages of Surif and al-Shuyukh, identifying them as Arafat Ahmad Ghneimat and Zahir Abd al-Rahim Halayqa.

Israeli forces carry out detention raids across the occupied territory on a near-daily basis, with the UN recording an average of 95 weekly raids in the West Bank in 2016, and 100 weekly raids on average thus far in 2017.

According to prisoners’ rights group Addameer, a total of 6,500 Palestinians were held in Israeli prisons as of January, including 300 minors. The group estimates some 40 percent of the male Palestinian population has been incarcerated by Israeli at some point in their lives.

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