The mother of the Palestinian political detainee, Bilal Jihad Hamayel recounted details of the arrest and violations against her son by a Palestinian Authority security force on Friday at dawn in Beita, south of Nablus.
“A force from the Preventive Security Service in Nablus stormed our house and told us that my son (Bilal) is wanted for investigation, without providing reasons for his arrest.”, Bilal’s mother told the media, adding that they “refused to allow Bilal to wear his clothes to go out in the cold weather. He was dragged by force, and the force attacked his two brothers in the street and beat them.”
She said, “It is not acceptable. We do not stand against anyone, and we are not against the law. People must be treated with respect.”
She confirmed that her son did not participate in any activity, while suggesting that the reason for his arrest was celebrating the release of one of prisoners from the Israeli occupation prisons.
She emphasised that Bilal asked the security force about reasons for his arrest and investigation, only for the force to respond with assaulting him and his brother.
She also pointed out the Palestinian Authority had arrested her son Muhtadi several months ago after summoning him and kept him in detention for 13 days without charge. “It was a political detention,” she said.
On Friday at dawn, the Palestinian Authority security forces arrested the young men Abdel Raouf Al-Jaghoub, Bilal Hamayel and Mutassim Dwaikat, after storming their homes in Beita, south of Nablus, to release them later in the evening, as the PA security forces continue to pursue activists and university students in the West Bank.
Representatives of the European Union had recently criticised the arrest of dozens of political activists by the PA security services, which were trained and equipped by the European police.
Representatives of the European Union and the heads of missions of the European Union in Jerusalem and Ramallah, and the heads of missions of Norway, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, shared a joint statement in which they considered the use of violence against human rights defenders, activists and peaceful demonstrators “unacceptable”.
Human rights organisations in the West Bank have documented 2,578 violations practiced by the PA against citizens in 2021.
