The Palestinian sources said that the six Palestinian were detained in the cities of Jenin and Hebron after house search operations. Israeli security sources told the Army Radio that the detainees were wanted by the Israeli intelligence agency Shin Bet and were taken to unknown locations for questioning. Israeli defense establishment says the arrest campaigns in Palestinian cities are part of its war against Palestinian armed groups.
The Palestinian Authority (PA) says that the daily Israeli raids hinder its forces to tighten their grip on the territory. Israel does not allow the PA to have any security role in specific areas in the West Bank that the 1993 Oslo peace agreement between the two sides classified as “C” areas.
According to the recent Palestinian statistics, there are 7,500 Palestinians, including 270 under the age of 18, are currently held in 10 prisons and three detention camps in Israel and in the West Bank. There are also three prisoners who have been in jail for more than 30 years, and 315 prisoners are held for more than 15 years.
Egypt and Germany mediated several rounds of talks between Hamas and Israeli in late 2009 but failed to broker a deal because Hamas presented a list of 1,000 names of Palestinian and Arab prisoners and insisted that Israel free them, while the Israeli government wanted to expel and remove some of the names from the list.
Meanwhile, the Israeli military advocate general ordered the army’s criminal investigations unit to investigate the death of a Palestinian protester who was killed by a tear gas canister at a demonstration in the West Bank village of Bil’in in April 2009.
The Israeli human rights organizations B’Tselem and Yesh Din said in a press statement that the advocate general had refused to open a criminal investigation into the death of Basim Abu-Rahmeh, but on Monday changed his mind after expert testimony showed that the tear gas canister was aimed directly at Abu-Rahmeh and was fired in violation of military orders.
A video documenting the events shows protestors, including Abu-Rahmeh, approaching the separation wall. A short while later the Palestinian activist can be seen bleeding on the ground after being struck by the canister. Abu-Rahmeh was evacuated to a Ramallah hospital in serious condition, where he died of his wounds.
The Israeli army said at the time that the demonstrators, Palestinians and left-wing activists, threw stones at security forces and tried to damage the wall.
B’Tselem and Yesh Din said they were satisfied by the decision to probe the events surrounding Abu Rahmeh’s death, but stressed that the delay in reaching the decision was unjustified.
“We hope the long time that has passed since the event won’t affect the effectiveness of the investigation, and that today’s decision by the Military Advocate General will bring justice to Abu-Rahmeh’s family and the village of Bil’in” the groups said in a statement.
The family’s Israeli attorney, Michael Sfard, said the decision shows that internal Israeli investigations could not be trusted.
