IOF kidnap at least 22 Palestinians in overnight raids, Thursday

PNN/Bethlehem

Israeli occupation forces (IOF) kidnap at least 22 Palestinians in overnight raids Wednesday in the occupied West Bank, Israeli and Palestinian sources said.

The Palestinian Prisoner’s Society said in a statement that the IOF kidnapped three brothers, identified as Iyad, Jihad, and Muhammad Fakhri Barhoum from Ramallah, as well as brothers Hisham and Sami Khamis Abu Lafah from the al-Amaari refugee camp near Ramallah.

The statement added that six Palestinians were detained in the Jenin district, identified as Taher Jawad Badarneh, 22, Muhammad Jamal Umour, 22, Hussein Ali Rabayaah, 25, Noor Muhammad Hamarsheh, and brothers Firas, 20, and Hussein Hamzeh Hirzallah, 23.

In the village of Azzun, in Qalqiliya district, the IOF kidnapped a man identified as Jihad Sweidan.

In the village of Yaabad, six Palestinians were kidnapped, according to locals.

Furthermore, in Nablus district, two Palestinians were also kidnapped. They were identified as as Saleem Muhammad Hirzallah, from the al-Ain refugee camp, and Abdullah Muhammad Hajj Muhammad from the town of Talfit.

According to the IOF spokesperson, 16 Palestinians had been kidnapped Thursday overnight:

– five near Tulkarem;

– one in the village of Meithalun, south of Jenin;

– one in Azzun in the Qalqiliya district;

– one in Hebron;

– one in the Nablus area;

– seven in the district of Ramallah and al-Bireh.

Nearly 7,000 Palestinians are currently being held in Israeli prisons and up to 40 percent of the male population has been detained at some point in their lives, according to prisoners’ rights group Addameer.

The group added that this number included 670 under administrative detention.