Israeli Security Forces Detain 25 Palestinians in West Bank

Israeli security forces arrested at least 25 Palestinians including five minors on Palestinian territories, according to local media.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – At least 25 Palestinians including five minors were detained by Israeli security forces on Palestinian territories in the early hours of Monday, local media reported.

Nine Palestinians including a 15-year-old boy were detained in the region of Bethlehem, the Ma'an news agency reported citing the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society (PPS). Most of the detained people are said to be former prisoners.

According to PPS, other detentions took place in the regions of Hebron, Ramallah and Qalqilya, as well as East Jerusalem.

According to the Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories, at the end of August 2016 almost 6,000 Palestinians were held in Israeli prisons.

In December 2016, the Amnesty International rights watchdog said that Israel resorts to administrative detention, which allows a prisoner to be held for a certain period without being charged, both to prosecute people suspected of criminal offenses and to detain the ones "who should not have been arrested at all."

The relations between Israel and Palestine has been tense for decades. The Palestinians are seeking to create their independent states on the territories of the West Bank, partially occupied by Israel, and the Gaza Strip. Israel refuses to recognize its independence.