Israeli soldiers arrest 3 teens in West Bank

RAMALLAH, Palestine

Israeli soldiers arrested three children from the Aida refugee camp on Saturday, according to media reports.

The Palestinian news agency, WAFA, said Mahmoud Baraqaa,14, Amhad Zakaria Baraqaa, 15, and Abdullah Abu Srour, 14, were detained while playing football.

Israeli police also arrested three others in occupied East Jerusalem. Witnesses said the detainees were in their 20s and were threatened with weapons by authorities.

Israeli officials have not yet commented about the arrests.

A total of 4,634 Palestinians were arrested by Israel in the occupied West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza in 2020, according to a report by Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).

As many as 543 detainees were children and 128 women, the report said, adding that Israeli forces expanded the arbitrary detention of women and children in 2020 and resorted to various torture methods during detentions.

*Writing by Busra Nur Cakmak