By Alaa Rimawi
RAMALLAH
Israeli security forces have detained four Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and three Arabs in the northern Israeli town of Kafr Kanna overnight.
The Israeli army said in a statement broadcasted by its radio that it detained four Palestinians, including a local Hamas member, in the West Bank over involvement in activities against Israeli targets.
Israeli forces routinely conduct detention campaigns against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank on claims that they are "wanted" by Israeli authorities.
Over 7,000 Palestinians are currently languishing in prisons throughout Israel, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Prisoners' Affairs.
Separately, the Israeli police said that its troops arrested three Arab Israeli citizens in Kafr Kanaa for involvement in clashes against security troops after the funeral of a young man who had been shot dead after allegedly trying to attack policemen with a knife.
A general strike was declared in all Arab towns across Israel on Sunday in protest of the shooting of 22-year-old Khair al-Din Hemdan, an incident that the police argued was self-defense after he tried to assault its personnel with a knife during a raid to arrest another Arab resident of the town.
The police noted that policemen fired some rounds in the air at first, but had to shoot on Hemdan when their lives became at risk.
Yet, the Islamic Movement in Israel held the police responsible for the killing, while Mojahed Awawdeh, head of Kafr Kanna's local council, said that the police shot Hemdan dead from a close range after a quarrel.
"The whole thing started when a police patrol car arrived at night to arrest an Arab man," Awawdeh told Anadolu Agency. "Hemdan was at the scene and got into an argument with police, who shot him dead from a range of one meter," he added.
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