West Bank, February 24, 2010 (Pal Telegraph) - Israeli occupation forces launched on a dawn raid today in different cities of the West Bank and detained 11 Palestinians.

In one incident, the IOF closed Hawara checkpoint to the south of Nablus and detained a citizen and seized dozens of vehicles. Eyewitnesses in Nablus said that the Israeli forces stopped a Palestinian vehicle, checked the identity cards of the passengers and then kidnapped one of them without cause. His identity is not known. After arresting the youth, Israeli soldiers opened the barrier.

Local sources said that a large force of Israeli occupation forces stormed several other towns and villages in the West Bank, raiding several houses and then detaining 10 of them. They were taken to an unknown place. The sources added that "Israeli occupation forces detained six Palestinians from Bethlehem, two near Ramallah, one from Jenin and another one from Tulkarem."

In Tulkarem, several military vehicles stormed the city at dawn, and raided a building in the downtown area. They detained a citizen, while setting up a checkpoint in Shufa village. Witnesses said that "Israeli soldiers surrounded a building south of the city and stormed the house of Omar Blidi, the director of "Kol Al-Nas,"a local radio staion. They chained him and took him to an unknown place.

Witnesses said that Israeli soldiers also set up a checkpoint at dawn today between Tulkarem and Shufa. It remained in place throughout the morning, but no detentions were reported.

In Nablus, Israeli forces arrested a young man at the Hawara military checkpoint while he was on his way out of the city.

In Bethlehem, Israeli occupation forces surrounded a number of houses in Doha town and fired sound bombs. They ordered the citizens to get out of their homes, before they kidnapped six young men and took them to an unknown place.

The Israeli army claimed that during the detention operation in Dheisheh, south of Bethlehem, several pipe bombs were thrown at Israeli soldiers, but failed to explode. The soldiers responded by firing in the air, causing no injuries.

Source: translated from SAFA