50 detained in Jerusalem since ‘Trump Declaration’

JERUSALEM

The number of Palestinian residents of Jerusalem detained since U.S. President Donald Trump announced his decision to recognize the city as Israel’s capital stands at 50, according to a local committee that tracks arrests.

“Israeli forces have arrested some 50 [Palestinian] residents of Jerusalem, including two women, since last week’s ‘Trump declaration’,” Amjad Abu Assab, head of the Committee for Families of Jerusalem’s Prisoners, told Anadolu Agency.

He went on to note that one third of those detained were minors under the age of 17.

He said most of them had been picked up off the street -- or during sit-ins and protests -- in and around Bab al-Amoud, a district of Jerusalem’s Old City.

According to Abu Assab, many of the detained young men had been injured, either by rubber bullets or beatings by Israeli security personnel.

Jerusalem remains at the heart of the Israel-Palestine conflict, with Palestinians hoping that East Jerusalem -- now occupied by Israel -- might eventually serve as the capital of a Palestinian state.

In a Tuesday statement, the Palestinian Prisoners Club, a local NGO, said as many as 200 Palestinians had been detained across the occupied territories since last Wednesday’s announcement by the U.S. president.

According to official Palestinian figures, more than 6,400 Palestinians -- many of them children -- are currently languishing in detention facilities throughout Israel.

Reporting by Fatima Abu Sbitan:Writing by Ali H. M.Abo Rezeg