Israeli Forces Detain 3 More Palestinian Minors, bringing to six the number of teens and children taken into military custody in the past 24 hours

Maan News Agency - Three minors were detained from their homes in Beit Ummar in an Israeli military raid at 3 a.m. Monday, bringing to six the number of teens and children taken into military custody in the past 24 hours.

Local popular committee leader Muhammad Awad identified the three boys taken overnight as Ayish Khalid Awad, Rashid Muhammad Awda, and Qassam Ahmad Abu Maria, all 16 years old.

An Israeli military spokeswoman confirmed to Ma'an that three were questioned overnight, but said only two were detained. The third, being young, was questioned in his home, she said, adding that the others were not minors.

Awad said the homes of the teens were ransacked, and several other searched before the detentions were made.

According to an Israeli military statement, there were seven detentions carried out by troops across the West Bank overnight.

On Sunday evening two were injured and three others detained in two separate incidents outside of the town. Two teens out working family land were detained, while a cousin of theirs was injured by a stun-grenade said to have been deployed by Israeli forces in the area. A 16-year-old girl was hospitalized as a result of a direct hit by the canister, and a local activist who went to the aid of the group was also injured.

The two detained were identified as Mohammad Jamil Abu Maria, 16, and Kahlid Ibrahim Kahder Sabarneh, 14. The military said they were taken in for questioning on accusations of rock throwing.

A third, 17-year-old Mohammad Ibrahim Abed Al-Hamid Abu Maria, also from Beit Ummar, was detained by Israeli forces who had put up a road block outside of the town Sunday evening.

Villagers hold weekly protests against the ongoing land confiscations perpetrated by settlers and settler guards in the nearby Jewish-only settlement of Karni Tzur.

Read more