Israel arrested 217 Palestinians and the Palestinian Authority arrested 144

The Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) revealed that it has registered dozens of violations and abuses against Palestinians in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip by both the Israeli and Palestinian security forces during the month of March.

The movement issued a report on Thursday saying that Israel killed 13 Palestinians in March: seven in the West Bank and five in the Gaza Strip. Israel also arrested 217 others, including 12 children, seven former prisoners and three women.

According to the report, Israel used bulldozers to demolish two houses, in addition to animal shelters and storage units, four infrastructure projects, a mosque and a health centre, as well as handed demolition orders for other houses, while launching the construction of 781 new housing units in settlements in occupied Jerusalem and the West Bank.

The report also noted that the Palestinian Authority security services arrested 144 Palestinians in various cities of the West Bank. The report pointed out that 130 detainees are members of Hamas, including a woman, along with thirteen members of the Islamic Jihad movement and a member of the Tahrir movement in the West Bank, Baher Saleh.

The security services summoned 46 Palestinians: 43 of them are members of Hamas, including four women, and three are members of Islamic Jihad. The authorities also extended the detention of six others, even though a decision was reached to release them. Furthermore, the security services issued various orders against three others.

Hamas revealed in the same report that the Palestinian Authority’s security apparatus returned a Jewish settler who claimed to have entered the city of Nablus, in northern West Bank, by mistake and handed him over to the Israeli coordination office.