Israel detains Islamic Jihad leader in West Bank

By Mohammad Ghefari

RAMALLAH, Palestine (AA) – At least 10 Palestinians were detained by Israeli forces in the West Bank on Sunday, including a senior leader of Islamic Jihad group, according to a local NGO.

“The detainees were taken into custody during raids in the West Bank,” Amany Sarahneh, a spokeswoman for the Palestinian Prisoner Society, told Anadolu.

She said Islamic Jihad leader Khader Adnan was among those arrested from his home in the city of Jenin.

His wife, Randa Moussa, confirmed her husband’s detention.

“Israeli forces raided our home after midnight and arrested my husband,” Moussa told Anadolu.

According to the wife, Adnan staged an open-ended hunger strike to protest his arrest.

Adnan was repeatedly detained by Israeli forces and had staged several hunger strikes to protest his detention.

In 2012, Adnan staged a 66-day hunger strike in protest of his detention, forcing the Israeli authorities to release him. He staged similar hunger strikes in 2015 and 2018.

Sunday’s arrests came amid rising tension in the Palestinian detention since last week in the wake of an Israeli military operation in Jenin in which at least 10 Palestinians were killed. Seven Israelis were also killed in a shooting attack in East Jerusalem.

According to Palestinian figures, at least 35 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire since the start of this year.

Palestinian estimates put the number of detainees at Israeli jails at around 4,700 Palestinians.

* Writing by Ahmed Asmar