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Israel keeps Silwan under siege and arrests 5 minors

February 20, 2014 at 3:30 pm

Israel has arrested underage Palestinians from the Silwan district in Occupied Jerusalem. Sources in the area say that security forces raided a number of homes at dawn, arresting five minors, the oldest of whom is 17 years. The Israeli occupation authorities are keeping Silwan in the grip of a siege-like situation, and have done for several weeks.

The detained children include Sohayb Al Rajbi, aged 13; Islam Ahmed Ouda, 16; and Murad Al Banna. They were arrested from near the sit-in tent set up by Silwan’s residents in Bir Ayoub in protest at the Israeli authorities’ intention to demolish dozens of houses in the district and expel the residents, allowing illegal Jewish settlers to move in.

The detained youngsters were taken to an Israeli court which agreed to keeping them in detention until next Friday. An arrest order against six other Palestinians from Silwan was renewed until the same day.

Read: 562 Palestinian minors arrested since Trump’s decision on Jerusalem