Israel detains dozens of Palestinians every week in occupied West Bank: Palestinian Prisoners Society

ISTANBUL

The Palestinian Prisoners Society announced Friday that the Israeli army detains, interrogates and subjects hundreds of Palestinians to ill-treatment every week in areas of the occupied West Bank.

“Hundreds of Palestinians are detained almost every week, subjected to field interrogations, and exposed to ill-treatment. Most are released after a few hours or a few days," it said in a statement.

Israeli army announces only actual arrests

Emani Serahine, the media officer of the Palestinian Prisoners Society, told Anadolu: “The Israeli army announces only the actual arrests, that is, those it holds in prisons and detention centers.”

Serahine said the army does not disclose cases of all Palestinians whose homes are raided, whose belongings are destroyed, who are mistreated, or who are detained for hours or days.

On the army’s announcement that it detained “dozens” of people last week, Serahine said: “We documented that, during the latest operation launched on Nov. 26, 162 Palestinians were detained in Tubas alone.”

Serahine added that the Israeli army’s field interrogations involve severe beatings, provocation and threats, and that soldiers destroy belongings and steal money during home raids.

The Israeli army, which announced it launched a wide-scale attack on Tubas in the northern occupied West Bank on Nov. 26, dropped leaflets in Arabic that read: “Your area has become a nest of terror. The Israeli army cannot remain indifferent. If this continues, your fate will be like Jenin and Tulkarem.”

The Israeli army had forcibly displaced more than 42,000 Palestinians from refugee camps in Jenin and Tulkarem.

It extensively demolished structures in the camps and continues its presence in the region. It does not allow residents to return to their homes.