Israel army detains Palestinian cancer patient and two children in West Bank raids

A cancer-stricken patient and two children were among 13 Palestinians arrested by Israeli forces during raids across the occupied West Bank, Palestinian security sources said.

Abdul Basset Maatan, a teacher suffering from cancer, was detained after Israeli forces stormed his home in Al-Bireh, east of Ramallah.   

Zuheer Maatan, Abdul Basset's brother, told The New Arab that Israeli forces persisted in taking him away despite his medical condition but allowed him to bring his medicines.

Ten-year-olds Yasser Arafat and Haitham Shukair were also detained after a raid on their parents' homes. The reason for their arrest was unclear.

Another Palestinian detained, identified as Anas Adnan Hamrasheh, was beaten while being detained, local sources said.

Israeli forces often carry out overnight raids in the Palestinian Authority-controlled West Bank to arrest suspected Palestinians who they accuse of planning a future offence. 

Thousands of Palestinians are being held in Israeli detention, sometimes for months, without trial. Detainees have held hunger strikes to protest their status and the conditions in Israeli prisons, which they say lacks basic rights.

Rights groups have regularly slammed Israel's use of administrative detention - the incarceration without a charge or trial - against Palestinians.

The detention has not time limit, and the evidence on which it is based is not disclosed.

"Israel employs this measure extensively and routinely, and has used it to hold thousands of Palestinians for lengthy periods of time," Israeli NGO B'Tselem has said.

"While detention orders are formally reviewed, this is merely a semblance of judicial oversight, as detainees cannot reasonably mount a defence against undisclosed allegations."