Israeli forces arrested over 40 Palestinians in one Jerusalem neighbourhood last month

Israeli forces arrested over 40 Palestinians in one Jerusalem neighbourhood last month
More than 40 Palestinian residents of the Issawiya neighbourhood in occupied East Jerusalem have been arrested since September.
2 min read
08 October, 2020
Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967 [Getty]

Israeli forces have detained more than 40 Palestinian residents in one East Jerusalem neighbourhood since the start of September, according to media reports.

According to the local Wadi Hilweh Information Centre, Israeli soldiers and police detained 42 Palestinians from the Issawiya neighbourhood in occupied East Jerusalem.

The latest to be arrested were five young men, who were detained when at dawn Israeli forces stormed their homes on Tuesday.

Out of the 42 Palestinians detained, nine were children.

Most were released after periods spanning from a few hours to a couple days with a cash bail typically posted on their release. Once the detainees are freed, they are kept under house arrest for several days.

Four out of five of Palestinians in occupied East Jerusalem live below the poverty line, making the payment of bail even more difficult for many families.

Activists say that young Palestinians in Issawiya are subject to daily harassment by Israeli forces and large-scale arrests.

Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967, in defiance of international law, and commits various abuses against Palestinian civilians, human rights groups say.

More than 600,000 Israeli Jews live in settlements in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, in constructions considered illegal under international law.

The Oslo agreement of 1995 divided the occupied West Bank into three: Area A, Area B and Area C.

Area A is under the administrative and security control of the Palestinian Authority (PA). Area B's administration is controlled by the PA, with Israel controlling security. Area C is under full administrative and security control of Israel.

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