Israel detains Palestinian NGO staff working on Jordan Valley solar panels

Israeli forces stormed a community in the occupied northern Jordan Valley region with staff from an environmental NGO briefly detained.

Workers from the Israeli-Palestinian NGO Comet-ME were held in Wadi Al-Faw on Tuesday by members of a nearby Jewish settlement who stormed the village backed by Israeli forces, local activist Moataz Bisharat told the Palestinian Authority's news agency Wafa.

The NGO's vehicle was confiscated and staff members were held for allegedly carrying out maintenance work on solar panels in the community without a warrant.

They were released shortly after but the organisation's driver was arrested and taken to the illegal settlement of Maskiyot. Such settlements are considered illegal under international law.

Palestinians in the Jordan Valley, as in other parts of the occupied West Bank, are routinely refused access to water or have solar panels confiscated.

Israel has occupied the West Bank illegally since 1967, and commits various abuses against Palestinian residents, human rights groups say.

More than 700,000 Jewish Israelis live in settlements in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, in constructions considered illegal under international law.

Under Israeli military law, Palestinians cannot build structures in the area without permits, which are typically refused and demolitions are common.