Continuing the ongoing atrocities against Palestinians, on Thursday, the Israeli army said that they had arrested dozens of Palestinian students within the occupied West Bank as they were “terror operatives” of Islamist group Hamas.
Palestinian sources clarified that dozens of people arrested were scholars from Birzeit University, they were returning by bus from the village of Turmus Ayya. Where earlier this month Israeli troops demolished the family home of a Palestinian American awaiting trial on charges of shooting a Jewish student within the West Bank earlier this year.
“Some of the apprehended terror operatives were directly involved in terror activities, including money transfers, incitement and the organization of Hamas activities in Judea and Samaria,” The Israeli army defended, using the Biblical terms for the West Bank.
Hamas is an organization that defends the lives of the Palestinians against the Israeli forces, it controls the Gaza Strip and was also involved in the 11-day clashes with Israel in May. It is blacklisted as a terrorist organization by the ECU Union and the US.
Israeli forces stopped 45 students following their solidarity visit on Wednesday to the Shalabi family in Turmus Ayya town, north of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank and arrested them.https://t.co/sGEQfCkfmx
The official statement about the arrests said “dozens of terror operatives” belonging to “a student cell” at Birzeit University had been detained during a joint operation involving the military, police and the Shin Bet domestic security agency. Shin Bet had appropriated the investigation.
According to the Palestinian Prisoners Club, Israel had administered “systematic arrests” of Palestinian students due to which they have “obstructed the education of hundreds of students”. Palestinians say that the number of scholars arrested on Wednesday was around 45, but 12 have since been released and therefore the 33 still in detention were all male.
“The university calls on the international community to intervene immediately to secure their release,” said Birzeit University during a statement voicing concern over the fate of its students, and condemned the arrests as a breach of the law of nations .