Israel detains Palestinian university students in West Bank arrest raid

Israel has detained seven students from Birzeit University during a West Bank arrest raid, local sources say.

1 min read

02 July, 2019

Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967 [Getty]

Israeli forces have detained seven Palestinian students from Birzeit University in the occupied West Bank, local sources say.

Israeli soldiers on Tuesday detained the students, one of whom is Usama Fakhour, the former student council head, during raids near the university campus, local sources told the Palestinian Authority's official news agency Wafa.

They were rounded up from their homes across Ramallah, including a student from Jalazoun refugee camp.

Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967. More than 600,000 Israelis live in settlements in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.

All Israeli settlements across the occupied West Bank are classed as illegal under international law, particularly Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which asserts that "the occupying power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies".

Israeli forces and settlers routinely attack Palestinians in the occupied territories, demolishing their homes, poisoning their livestock and vandalising properties.

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