67 Palestinians arrested since start of 2011

A report by the ministry of prisoners in Gaza said that the Israeli occupation forces (IOF) had rounded up 67 Palestinians since the start of 2011 ten days ago including 13 minors and 3 fishermen.

Riyadh Al-Ashqar, the ministry’s spokesman, said on Monday that the figure includes the five detainees who were released form PA jails in the West Bank after 42 days of hunger strike.

He noted that among the detained were Sheikh Ahmed Salatna, the director of a charity society in Jenin, and three members of Beit Reema municipal council, and former prisoners.

He said that the IOF soldiers continued to target minors, pointing out that two of them were 6 and 7 years old respectively and were kidnapped in occupied Jerusalem’s Old City at the pretext of throwing stones at Jewish settlers.

The spokesman appealed to the world community to pressure Israel into desisting from further indiscriminate detentions of Palestinians.