The Israeli occupation forces (IOF) arrested a Palestinian businessman at the northern Erez (Beit Hanun) crossing on Monday.
Rights activist Abdel Nasser Farwana said that the IOF arrested the businessman Mahmoud Sami Mahmoud Ahmed and took him to an unknown detention center. He added that the businessman was trying to cross into 1948 Occupied Palestine for commercial purposes when the IOF arrested him in the morning but only announced his detention late on Monday evening.
Mahmoud has a trade permit which allows him to travel between Gaza and West Bank Farwana added.
Mahmoud’s arrest brought the total number of Palestinians detained at Erez crossing to six since the start of the year 2021.
Rights groups have earlier warned that the Erez crossing has become a trap for Gaza people who are in urgent need to travel via Israeli crossings.
Palestinians arrested at Erez are usually interrogated for several hours sometimes even for days before they are either allowed into Israel en route to the West Bank or sent back to Gaza.
