Israeli security forces have detained 13 Palestinians, including one teenager, during a series of overnight raids across the West Bank, the Palestinian WAFA news agency reported on 10 December, one day after Palestinian residents in Hebron staged a general strike against Israeli settlement building in the occupied territory.

The arrests took place across the entire West Bank but included raids in Jerusalem, Bethlehem and Ramallah. Most notably, a fifteen-year-old teenager and an Islamic religious trust worker were arrested in Jerusalem, the Palestinian WAFA news agency reported.

Even when arrests did not take place, Israeli forces ransacked houses, the agency reported.

Israeli security forces regularly conduct raids in areas of the West Bank, claiming that they are searching for wanted Palestinians. According to media reports, Israeli forces do not require a search warrant to enter properties.

On 9 December, Arab residents in the Palestinian-majority West Bank city of Hebron staged a general strike against Israel’s plans to build new settlements on the site of an old bazaar.

The West Bank is a territory long contested by the Palestinians and Israel. The area has been occupied by Israel since the 1967 Six-Day War. Since then, Israel has sought to build settlements in the occupied area, a process that the United Nations considers to be illegal. In November, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that the United States no longer viewed these settlements as illegal, a statement that drew criticism from UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres.

 

Source: Sputnik News