ISRAELI FORCES DETAIN 12 PALESTINIANS ACROSS WEST BANK
Hebron, 17 Dhulqa’dah 1436/1 September 2015 (MINA) – Israeli forces detained at least 12 Palestinians in predawn raids across the occupied West Bank Tuesday, Palestinian and Israeli sources said.
The Israeli army said that they detained three Palestinians in Nablus district, six in Bethlehem, and three in Jericho, all for “suspected illegal activity.”, Ma’an News Agecny quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting.
However, Palestinian security officials reported further detentions in Jenin, where violent clashes broke out during an Israeli detention raid targeting a senior Hamas official.
The officials told Ma’an that Israeli forces detained Majdi Abu al-Hija, his brother Alaa, his son, and other family members during the raid. Israeli forces subsequently demolished their family home.
Palestinian officials also said that five Palestinians were detained in Beit Ummar in northern Hebron, although this may have been included in the six the army said were detained in Bethlehem.
Muhammad Awad, a spokesman for Beit Ummar’s popular committee, told Ma’an that large numbers of Israeli forces apprehended the five Palestinians after ransacking their homes during a predawn detention raid.
Awad identified the detainees as Maysar Sadiq Abu Mariya, 28, Muayyad Hasan Titi, 25, Sharif Fathi Bregheith, 25, Muhammad Jamal Abu Hashim, 20, and Muhannad Abdul-Fattah Arar, 18.
Awad added that Israeli soldiers also handed a summons to a teenage boy, Hamza Ahmad Abu Hashim, demanding that he go to Israeli intelligence office for questioning.
Beit Ummar has seen dozens of its residents detained by Israeli forces this year.
Israeli forces routinely detain Palestinians throughout the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, often on the pretext of perceived security threats.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported in August that Israeli forces have so far this year carried out a weekly average of 79 search and arrest operations across the occupied Palestinian territory. (T/P010/R03)
Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)
