In 2014, three Palestinians were killed because of unexploded ordnance left by Israeli forces in the West Bank’s Jordan Valley, while Gaza remains plagued with unexploded ordnance following the most recent Israeli aggression.
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The authorities later announced the administrative detentions of Meir Ettinger, 23, and Eviatar Slonim, two known radicals who were arrested last week, on suspicion of belonging to radical groups believed to have been involved in so-called “price tag” attacks against Palestinian and Arab targets.
The July 31 attack in the village of Duma that killed 18-month-old Ali Saad Dawabsha, and also wounded his mother and brother, led to angry Palestinian protests and an worldwide outcry over Israel’s failure to curb violence by hardline Jewish settlers.
Israeli security services raided settlements overnight Saturday and early Sunday, arresting seven Jewish extremists for questioning, the Israeli police spokesperson confirmed to Xinhua.
Israel holds hundreds of Palestinians in administrative detention. This measure is regularly used against Palestinian terrorism suspects.
A protester burns tyres during clashes with Israeli troops following the funeral of Palestinian Saad Dawabsheh last week.
“It’s carried out based mostly on an administrative order exclusively, with out indictment or trial, and the detainee can’t defend himself towards the allegations because the proof is assessed”, a press release by human rights group B’Tselem stated.
Palestinians regard settlements as a major obstacle to building a sought-after state in contiguous territory in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, and tensions between the two communities are often high.
The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) has recorded over 11,000 Israeli settlers’ attacks on Palestinians and their property since 2004.
But Israeli authorities suspect the attack may have been carried out by Israeli far-right extremists, and the government has vowed a thorough investigation and a rigorous law enforcement follow-up.
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The stabbed Israeli who was slightly injured was hospitalized, said the statement. Police spokeswoman Luba Samri declined to say if those taken into custody were suspects in the Duma attack, but she did say they were suspected of “involvement in a number of violent incidents that took place recently” in the West Bank.
