By Alaa Rimawi
JERUSALEM
Israeli forces have detained three Palestinians in the occupied West Bank overnight over their suspected involvement in "attacks against Israeli targets," according to the Israeli military.
The Israeli army radio said Tuesday the trio were moved to a detention center run by the internal security agency (Shin Bet) for interrogation.
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.
Meanwhile, clashes erupted late Monday in Silwan neighborhood in occupied East Jerusalem between Palestinian youths and Jewish settlers who took over two residential buildings in the district earlier in the day.
"The clashes left many Palestinians suffering from teargas inhalation after the Israeli police intervened," an eyewitness said.
The Israeli police, in a statement, said that a group of Palestinian youths attacked the Jewish families that moved into Silwan with petrol bombs and stones, but asserted that no casualties were reported.
Local NGO Wadi Hilweh Information Center said Monday that the two buildings had been owned by two Palestinian families who sold them to a broker. The latter, the NGO said, sold the two houses to a Jewish settlement association.
Israel occupied East Jerusalem during the 1967 Middle East War. It unilaterally annexed the holy city in 1980, claiming it as the capital of the self-proclaimed Jewish state – a move never recognized by the international community.
Palestinians accuse Israel of waging an aggressive campaign to "Judaize" the city with the aim of effacing its Arab and Islamic identity and ultimately driving out its Palestinian inhabitants.
International law considers the West Bank and East Jerusalem occupied territories taken by Israel in 1967, viewing all Jewish settlement building as illegitimate.
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