Israel detains Palestinian mayor in occupied Hebron

Israeli forces yesterday detained the mayor of Hebron’s occupied town of Ad-Dhahiriya and confiscated a digger that was being used to carry out works in the town’s Jamil district.

According to local sources, the occupation forces detained Mayor Bahjat Jabareen and a number of workers, adding that they were taken to the illegal Israeli Otniel settlement.

Israeli attacks on Palestinian in Hebron have increased over the years in an effort to evict the indigenous population to make way for illegal settlements. The city of Hebron has an estimated total population of 200,000 inhabitants. Approximately 40,000 Palestinians live in the Old City. Around 400-850 illegal Israeli settlers reside in the core of the city; an additional 8,000 settlers reside in the Kiryat Arba settlement, on the outskirts of Hebron.

READ: Israel makes arrests in occupied West Bank and Jerusalem as settlers attack Palestinians