The Palestinian sources said that three Palestinians were arrested in Hebron, one at the Innab military checkpoint east of Tulkarm, and seven in Ramallah and Nablus areas. The sources added that the eleven were arrested after meticulous 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 security forces to tighten their grip on the Palestinian territories.
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 3 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 government in late 2009 to discuss the release of kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in exchange with Palestinian prisoners.
The mediators 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.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is facing increasing pressure from Shalit’s family, Israeli academics and public figures to step up negotiations for the release of the soldier.
