Ma'an News Agency
May 5, 2011 - 12:00am
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=385283


Israel's army arrested five Palestinians from the northern West Bank early Friday, residents said.

An undercover unit raided Jenin refugee camp and seized Islamic Jihad leader Bassam As-Saadi, who had recently been released from Israeli prison after completing an eight-year jail term.

Soldiers forced family members into one room while they searched the house and eventually departed with As-Saadi, who was bound before being taken to an unknown location, his wife told Ma'an.

Four residents of a village near Jenin were also seized. They were identified as Hasen Mustafa Jaradat, Hussein Rafiq Jaradat, and brothers Hussein and Munteser Ahmad Jaradat.

An undercover unit joined the army in the operation, witnesses said. They fired bullets and stun grenades at homes, and soldiers beat several residents after cuffing them outside their houses.

An Israeli army spokeswoman confirmed five arrests in Jenin.

The operation came a day after an operation in which Israeli soldiers stepped out of a Mercedes with Palestinian license plates at 2 a.m. and forcibly entered the home of an Islamic Jihad leader in the village of Arraba.

Tareq Qadan, a leader of Islamic Jihad in the northern West Bank, was taken from his home in his night clothes by five soldiers and shoved into the unmarked car parked outside the two-story building, witnesses said.

The man's sister said Qadan opened the door to his home when he heard shouts from outside. As soon as the door opened, she said, "five soldiers broke into the house and took his wife into one room, and my brother outside."

She added Qadan had asked to see his ailing mother before he was taken away, and to notify his brother that he should keep watch over the elderly woman: "They refused his request and took him in his pajamas."

An Israeli military spokeswoman confirmed that there was one arrest carried out in the village, and declined comment on the nature of the operation and alleged use of an unmarked vehicle.




TAGS:



American Task Force on Palestine - 1634 Eye St. NW, Suite 725, Washington DC 20006 - Telephone: 202-262-0017