Israeli forces, on Wednesday, abducted at least 14 Palestinians during the night and in predawn raids across the West Bank, according to reports by local and security sources.In Hebron City, soldiers stormed the area, taking with them two Palestinians, including one 18-year-old, and leading them to an unknown destination. Israeli soldiers also raided a number of houses in the city, damaging the furniture inside.
Forces also stormed the nearby town of Yatta, according to WAFA, where soldiers abducted one local resident during similar house raids.
Mohammad Awad, who is coordinator of the Anti-settlement Committee in Beit Ummar, to the north of Hebron, said that a large number of Israeli troops were deployed in the town, where two Palestinians, 23 and 27, including a university student, were kidnapped following a raid on their houses. The student was taken while wearing only his underwear.
Soldiers fired poison gas towards the local residents, causing many cases of suffocation which were treated on site.
During the night, soldiers stormed other towns in the Hebron Governorate, establishing checkpoints and causing a traffic jam.
The village of Kaferet was also raided, including the house of a former Palestinian prisoner. Israeli soldiers interrogated the residents and further raided many houses in the nearby village of Burqin, where they further interrogated residents.
Forces stormed the village of al-Auja, to the north of Jericho, abducting two local residents, both in their 20s, as well as raiding and sabotaging the contents of other houses in the village.
In the central West Bank district of Salfit, the Israeli army also raided Deir Istiya village, where they abducted four Palestinians, according to statements by village mayor, Ayyoub Abu Hajlah. He said soldiers broke into a house currently under construction and turned it into a military outpost, as well.
Meanwhile, forces stormed the village of Zububa, northwest of Jenin, and kidnapped two Palestinians, ages 20 and 25, after raiding their houses and damaging their furniture. Several other houses were also raided, upon which soldiers interrogated the residents, yet no further arrests were made, according to WAFA.
Finally, Israeli soldiers raided Bethlehem, where they served an interrogation summons to a local resident.
Over 800,000 Palestinians, including children, have been imprisoned by Israel since the country first began occupying the West Bank and Gaza in 1967.
The occupation was never formally recognized as legitimate by the international community, and Palestinians continue to be disenfranchised by military, police and settlers alike, throughout the region.
Palestinians now make up the largest refugee population in the entire world.
See also: 08/13/14 ‘Over 485,000 People Now Displaced in Gaza’
