Israeli Occupation Forces have been carrying out arrest raids throughout the West Bank and in the Naqab since June 13, when it was reported that three West Bank settlers, a man and two youths, were captured by the Palestinian resistance while hitch-hiking from Gush Etzion (illegal settlement) to Modi’in (another illegal settlement) in the area of al-Khalil. The capture of occupation soldier Gilad Shalit by the Palestinian resistance in Gaza brought about the 2011 “Wafa al-Ahrar” exchange for 1,000 Palestinian political prisoners; noting occupation refusal to release Palestinian political prisoners without action by the resistance, the capture of soldiers and settlers has been stated by Palestinian resistance groups to be a priority. No Palestinian organization has claimed responsibility for the capture.
Occupation forces have responded with collective punishment on a mass scale – declaring the area a closed military zone, cancelling work permits for Palestinians from al-Khalil, invading and ransacking dozens of homes, conducting what they described as a “house to house” operation. They stopped and searched hundreds of Palestinian cars, Palestinians have been captured throughout the West Bank, and Palestinian Legislative Council members, former prisoners, and former ministers were particularly targeted in these raids. Most have been reportedly taken to settlement detention centers for interrogation. The Palestinians captured by occupation forces in these wide-ranging raids include:
1. Hassan Yousef (El-Bireh)
2. Dr Mohammed Ghazzal (Nablus)
3. Wasfi Qabha (Former Minister of Prisoners’ Affairs)
4. Mohammed al-Sayyed (Jenin)
5. Tareq Qa’adan (former prisoner and long-term hunger striker)
6. Ja’afar Izzedine (former prisoner and long-term hunger striker)
7. AbdelRahman Zeidan – Palestinian Legislative Council member
8. Ibrahim Abu Salem – Palestinian Legislative Council member
9. Ahmed Totah – Palestinian Legislative Council member
10. Hosni al-Burini – Palestinian Legislative Council member
11. Nader Sawafteh – Tubas
12. Fazah Sawafteh – Tubas
13. Khaled Abu Arafah – Former Minister
14. Sheikh Ammar Naffaa – Tulkarem
15. Ahmad Saqr Nabhan – Askar camp
16. Hassan al-Safadi – Nablus (former prisoner and long-term hunger striker)
17. Osama Shahin (prisoner activist) – Khalil
18. al-Hajj Sobhi Kfeisheh – Khalil
19. Firas Jarrar – Nablus
20. Abdel-Jabbar Jarrar – Jenin
21. Anas Raddad – Tulkarem
22. Abdallah Bani Odeh – Tammoun
23. Talal Abu Asbeh – Qalqilya
24. Ahmad Awad – former prisoner – Nablus
25. Huzaifa Ziadeh – Madameh south of Nablus
26. Abdel-Hakim al-Qada’a – Nablus
27. Samir Abu Shaib – Awarta
28. Alaa Abu Qader – Jenin
29. Omar al-Barghouthi (former prisoner) – Qobar, Ramallah
30. Sheikh Zaid Sabhan – al-Farra camp
31. Amir al-Dabbour – Azzoun
32. Nael Anaya – Azzoun
33. Mohammed Bani Odeh – Tammoun
34. Mohammed Azmi al-Barbarawi – Halhoul
35. Mostafa Rabai’a – Jenin
36. Ahmad Salatneh – Jaba, Janin
37. Ahmad Malaisha – Jaba, Jenin
38. Sajid Khatatbeh – Beit Furik
39. Arafat Nasser
40. Tareq Shaaban – Khalil
41. Marwan Zahdeh – Khalil
42. Said Qasrawi – Ramallah
43. Abdallah Shbeita – Azzoun
44. Mosaab al-Ashqar – Tulkarem
45. Marwan Mughra – Salfit
46. Mahmoud Karim Ayyad – Dheisheh camp, Bethlem
47. Ashraf Shamasneh – Qataneh
48. Najib Mafarjeh – Beit Liqya
49. Diaa Sammour – El-Bireh
50. Fathi Yassin Abu Srour – Ramallah
51. Yousef al-Lahham – Bethlehem
52. Amro Diab – Bethlehem
53. Ahmed Zaid – Ramallah
54. Ahmad Hamadneh – Asira Shamaliya, Nablus
55. Nader Ribhi Takatkeh – Beit Fajar, Bethlehem
56. Said Abu Hussein – Khalil
57. Qasem Abu Hussein – Khalil
58. Mohammed Nidal Daghlas – Asira Shamaliya, Nablus
59. Adham al-Shouli – Asira
60. Alaa Za’aqiq – Beit Ommar
61. Mohammad Adib Mousa – Bethlehem
62. Ali Hannoun – Ramallah
63. Adib Wahdan – Ramallah
