PPSF member detained at Ramallah checkpoint

Israeli forces detained a member of the Palestinian Popular Struggle Front late Wednesday after holding him at Atara checkpoint north of Ramallah. PPSF member Monadel Hanini told Ma'an that Israeli forces detained Awni Abu Ghosh, 50, while he was on his way back to Jerusalem, where he lives, from Nablus. Hanini demanded the immediate release of Abu Ghosh. Israeli forces are undertaking a widespread campaign of arresting Palestinian political leaders because of the upcoming UN bid, he added. Israel detained 120 Palestinians, mostly Hamas supporters, in Hebron on August 21 in one of the largest detention operations in the city since 2003, Palestinian security officials said. An Israeli army spokeswoman said arrests were made in the Ramallah area Wednesday as part of routine "security procedures."