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Photo:
Scene. Published by Maan News
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Al-BIREH (Ma’an) -- Israeli forces detained at least 14 Palestinians during predawn raids across the occupied West Bank on Sunday, including renowned Palestinian writer and political scientist Ahmad Qatamish, who has spent several years in Israeli prisons, most recently a two-and-a-half-year stint under administrative detention -- Israel's widely condemned policy of internment without trial or charge.

Local sources said that Qatamish, 66, was detained from his home in the city of al-Bireh near Ramallah in the central occupied West Bank, after Israeli soldiers thoroughly searched the house, damaging some of his possessions. He was then take to an unknown location.

An Israeli army spokesperson told Ma'an that two Palestinians were detained in al-Bireh overnight.

Qatamish was released from Israeli prison four years ago after spending two and a half consecutive years in administrative detention.

His arrest in April 2011 and subsequent administrative detention sentence sentence sparked outrage, after Palestinian prisoners' rights group Addameer reported that Israeli authorities had hastily slapped together the administrative detention order by forging his name on someone else’s order.

The order also stated that the writer was suspected of being a Hamas member, a claim Addameer called "absurd" as the previous week Israeli police accused Qatamish of membership of leftist faction the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, the group with which he has historically been associated.

Administrative detention orders, based on undisclosed evidence, are indefinitely renewable for up to six-month periods. Qatamish's order was renewed at least six times over the last period of his detention.

He had previously spent several spells in Israeli jails and also spent 17 years in hiding from 1976 to 1992 to avoid rearrest.

In 1992 Qatamish was held by Israel without charge for six years, writing about his experiences of torture and ill treatment in his prison memoir "I Shall not Wear Your Tarboush (fez)."

Following an international campaign for his release, he was freed in 1998, and has since been banned from traveling outside Palestinian territory.

Meanwhile, Israeli forces also raided the town of al-Tira, west of Ramallah, and detained one Palestinian, according to an Israeli army spokesperson.

She added that two Palestinians were also detained in the village of Nahhalin in the southern Bethlehem district, one Palestinian was detained in al-Farah refugee camp in the northeastern Tubas district, two Palestinians were detained in the city of Qalqiliya in the northwest of the West Bank, and that six Palestinians were detained in Jenin in the northernmost district of the West Bank -- one of whom was an alleged "Hamas operative," according to the army.

A raid into Jenin refugee camp sparked clashes between Israeli soldiers and local youth. Israeli forces shot one resident in the leg with a live bullet. Locals identified one of those detained as Yassin al-Amuri.

Israeli raids in Palestinian towns, villages, and refugee camps are a daily occurrence in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem.

The United Nations recorded an average of 95 weekly raids in the occupied West Bank in 2016, and 70 weekly raids on average thus far in 2017.

According to prisoners’ rights group Addameer, 6,300 Palestinians were held in Israeli prisons as of March, including 300 minors, 61 women, and 500 under administrative detention.

Although Israeli authorities claim the withholding of evidence during administrative detention is essential for state security concerns, rights groups have instead claimed the policy allows Israeli authorities to hold Palestinians for an indefinite period of time without showing any evidence that could justify their detentions.

Rights groups have also claimed that Israel's administrative detention policy has been used as an attempt to disrupt Palestinian political and social processes, notably targeting Palestinian politicians, activists, and journalists.

More than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners have undertaken an open-ended hunger strike in Israeli prisons calling for an end to the practice.
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Israeli Soldiers Injure Two Palestinians, Abduct Three, In Jenin

by IMEMC News

Israeli soldiers invaded, on Sunday at dawn, the Jenin refugee camp, in the northern West bank city of Jenin, shot and injured two Palestinians, and abducted three others.

The soldiers stormed and ransacked homes during the invasion, and interrogated many Palestinians, before abducting three, identified as Mohammad Mahmoud ‘Ararawi, 17, Yassin Ali ‘Ammouri, 18, and Mohammad Mustafa Abu Jilda, 18.

The invasion led to clashes between the soldiers and local youngsters, who hurled empty bottles and stones at the military vehicles, while the soldiers fired many live rounds, rubber-coated steel bullets, and gas bombs.

Medical sources in Jenin said two Palestinians, identified as Yazan Mohammad Ja’aysa, 20, and Majdi Abu Jilda, 15, were shot by army fire.

Updated From:
Army Injures A Palestinian, Abducts Another, In Jenin

May 14, 2017 @ 09:40

Israeli soldiers invaded, on Sunday morning, the Jenin refugee camp, in the northern West Bank governorate of Jenin, shot and injured one Palestinian, and caused many so suffer the effects of teargas inhalation, before abducting a young man.

The soldiers broke into and ransacked many homes in the refugee camp, and harassed several Palestinians, leading to clashes.

One Palestinians, Yazan Mohammad Ja’aysa, 20, was shot with a live round fired by the soldiers, while many Palestinians suffered the severe effects of teargas inhalation.

Medical sources said Ja’aysa was shot with a live round in his leg and is currently in a moderate-but-stable condition. He was moved to the Jenin governmental hospital for treatment.

Furthermore, the soldiers assaulted Yassin al-‘Ammouri, and his family, while searching and ransacking the property, and abducted him.

Also on Sunday morning, the soldiers carried out, a limited invasion into Palestinian lands, close to the border fence in central Gaza, and uprooted them.

On Sunday at dawn, the soldiers abducted four Palestinians, including two siblings, from their homes in the West Bank governorates of Qalqilia and Bethlehem.
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Army Abducts A Palestinian In Tubas

by IMEMC News,

Israeli soldiers abducted, late on Saturday at night, one Palestinian from his home in Ra’s al-Far’a area, south of Tubas, in the northeastern part of the occupied West Bank.

The soldiers searched a few homes in the area, and abducted a man, identified as Shadi Abu Kheizaran, 37, and took him to an unknown destination.

The soldiers interrogated several Palestinians while inspecting their ID cards, and withdrew from the area, taking the abducted man to an unknown destination.

On Sunday at dawn, the army invaded the Jenin refugee camp, in the northern West bank city of Jenin, shot and injured two Palestinians, and abducted three others, while four Palestinians were abducted in Qalqilia and Bethlehem.

In addition, Israeli army vehicles carried out a limited invasion into Palestinian lands, close to the border fence in central Gaza, and uprooted them.
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Israeli Soldiers Abduct Four Palestinians In Qalqilia and Bethlehem

by IMEMC News

Israeli soldiers abducted, on Sunday at dawn, four Palestinians, including two siblings, from their homes in the West Bank governorates of Qalqilia and Bethlehem.

The Qalqilia office of the Palestinian Prisoners Society (PPS), in the northern part of the occupied West Bank, has reported that the soldiers invaded homes, in different parts of the city, and abducted two Palestinians, identified as Hasan Yasser Harb, 19, and Bara’ Hindi, 19.

It added that the soldiers interrogated several Palestinians while searching their homes, and inspected their ID cards.

Furthermore, the soldiers invaded Nahhalin village, west of Bethlehem, also searched homes, and abducted two Palestinian siblings, identified as Ala-Eddin Mohammad Shakarna, 18, and his brother Baha-Eddin, 19.

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