Israel escalates arrests in West Bank to silence anti-annexation voices 

As part of military measures aimed at holding back growing indignation among Palestinians who reject the occupation’s intention to annex large swathes of the West Bank, occupation forces have escalated arrest campaigns, detaining 15 Palestinians yesterday, in parallel with ongoing demolition operations of Palestinian homes and facilities.

Two young men from the town of Kifl Haris, north of Salfit, were arrested yesterday. Local sources said that the security forces arrested Khalil Abu Yaqoub, 24, and Ali Al-Qaq, 22, after storming and searching their parents’ homes.

The occupation forces also arrested five young men in Nablus, after raiding several neighbourhoods in the city, where they arrested Ahmed Youssef Awwad from Al-Makhfia area, and Dawoud Khaled Saleh from Al-Ain camp.

Netanyahu: Palestinians in annexed Jordan valley will not be given rights as Israelis 

The Israeli forces also stormed the village of Tell where they arrested Abdel Rahman Ayoub Asida, and raided the town of Beita, storming and searching the homes of Karam Issa Dawoud and Louai Tair Dweikat, later detaining them.

Five Palestinians from Jenin were also detained including freed prisoners, Sheikh Khaled Suleiman Abu Al-Hassan and Fathi Al-Atoum, after storming the city and raiding their homes.

In Jenin camp, the occupation forces arrested Mohammad Al-Nabhan, a student at the Faculty of Dentistry at the Arab American University, and the freed prisoners Mohammed Azmi Nasharti and Imad Jamal Abu Al-Heija, after raiding and searching their relatives’ homes.

After storming the camp, the Israeli forces fired live ammunition and sound bombs to disperse the crowds who were confronting the occupation soldiers.

At dawn, Israeli forces also detained Hazem Al-Rimawi, 18, from the town of Beit Rima, Khaldoun Barghouti, 40, from Kobar, and Qusay Omar Kharaz, 18, from Silwad, after raiding different areas of Ramallah in the central occupied West Bank. The detainees were dragged out of their families’ homes, after their furniture and personal belongings were deliberately damaged during a search.

READ: The annexation in the controversy of the Israeli right

The occupation forces arrested four other citizens from the occupied city of Jerusalem; Mohammed Badr from the town of Abu Dis, Dhiya Ayman Ubaid, and Rouhi Al-Jabbar, 13, in addition to delivering a summons to Mohammed Ismat Ubaid, from Issawiya. Husam Sidr, one of the Islamic Endowments’ employees in Al-Aqsa Mosque, was also taken into custody.