Occupation forces struck Bil’in and Jayyus this week, arresting and abducting 13 more people in the latest series of arrests.
In Bil’in, the arrest campaign that began late June continued, when early Monday morning Occupation forces invaded the village. At 3:00 AM, masked soldiers raided several homes, where they arrested 7 people. Two members of the popular committee of the village were targeted; Mohammad Khatib was taken, and a second individual was not in his home and managed to escape arrest.
Among those arrested were four youth between the ages of 16 and 23, along with an older man. To date, 25 people have been arrested, and 19 from the village are still being held. Occupation forces have been interrogating prisoners in an attempt to force youth to make statements against Bil’in community leaders.
The following night, residents of Jayyus stated that soldiers raided the village sometime around midnight, kidnapping three more local students. All were 19-years-old, and one is enrolled in an-Najah university in Nablus. No one has heard anything as to their whereabouts.
This brings the total arrested recently in Jayyus to 6. On July 15, in a similar raid, Occupation forces pulled three university students from the village. They remain imprisoned.