Israeli Forces Detain 25 Palestinians, Including Former Governor during Raids in West Bank

Rasa - Israeli Army detained at least 25 Palestinians during raids in the West Bank including a former governor of the Northern West Bank district of Tulkarm and a number of teenagers.

News ID: 426487

Date: 12 January 2017 - 20:28

RNA - The Fatah member, Talal Dweikat was detained in a raid on his house in Nablus in the Northern occupied West Bank, according to Fatah spokesman Munir al-Jaghoub, Ma'an reported.

“The Israeli occupation targets every Palestinian regardless of political affiliation and the best response to that is to close ranks and maintain national unity," al-Jaghoub said, commenting on the detention.

Dweikat is the former governor of the Northern occupied West Bank district of Tulkarem.

Israeli forces also raided the Tulkarem-area Nur Shams refugee camp and detained four young Palestinian men.

Locals told Ma'an that Israeli troops ransacked several homes before they detained the four, who were identified as Ibrahim Fayyad, Islam al-Fudah, Nayif Abu al-Rub, and Musab al-Sabbagh.

Also in the Northern occupied West Bank, the Israeli army said they detained two Palestinians in Nablus’ Balata refugee camp, one in the village of Beit Amin in the Qalqiliya district, one in the village of al-Zawiya.

An Israeli army spokesperson also informed Ma’an of on detention in Beit Rima in the Ramallah district, two others also near Ramallah, and one in the town of Dura in the Southern occupied West Bank.

In the Southern occupied West Bank town of Tuqu Southwest of Bethlehem, Israeli forces carried out multiple detention raids and detained 12 young men and teenagers, according to local sources and the Israeli army.

Sources told Ma'an that Israeli forces stormed the town and ransacked several homes before they detained Luay Habis al-Umour, 18, Abdullah Yousif al-Umour, 17, Ammar Yasser al-Umour, 18, Mamoon Salim Sabbah, 19, Qusay Muhammad al-Umour, 19, Sufian Atallah al-Umour, 22, Sami Ali Sabbah, 22, Moussa Khalil al-Umour, 24, Suleiman Khalid al-Umour, 20, Baraa Raed al-Umour, 20, Muayyad Muhammad Hajahja, 20, and Khalil Imad al-Umour, 21.

An Israeli army spokesperson said in a statement that the detainees were suspected of throwing stones and Molotov cocktails at Israeli settler vehicles traveling on the main road near the town.

The Israeli army also published video footage showing their activity in Tuqu and in the nearby town of al-Khader. The footage from al-Khader shows Israeli soldiers surprising a group of Palestinians throwing stones at settler vehicles before soldiers detained them.

In the village of Marah Rabah, also in the Bethlehem district, local sources said Israeli forces broke into a stone factory and seized records from surveillance cameras. The sources said the factory belongs to Muhammad Abd al-Nabi al-Daqqaq.

The Palestinian Prisoner’s Society, 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 some 178 raids in the West Bank between Dec. 13 and 26, 2016.

According to prisoners’ rights group Addameer, 7,000 Palestinians, including 400 minors, were held in Israeli prisons as of October 2016.

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