The number of imprisoned Palestinian Legislative Council members has climbed to 13 on Wednesday, 12 April after a pre-dawn raid by Israeli occupation forces seized PLC member Ahmad Atoun from his home in Ramallah. Atoun has previously spent several years in Israeli prisons. His last arrest was in 2013, during which he spent 17 months in detention. Atoun is originally from Jerusalem but is banned from living there by occupation forces. 

Democratically elected Palestinian political leaders are routinely targeted and detained as part of ongoing Israeli efforts to suppress Palestinian political processes – and, as a necessary result, political sovereignty and self-determination. The Israeli policy of detaining members of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) has adversely disrupted PLC normal functions. Israeli occupation forces arrested 5 Palestinian Legislative Council Members in March 2017. 8 Palestinian legislative council members are currently placed under administrative detention.