Over 14,500 Palestinians detained by Israeli army in West Bank since October 2023, prisoners’ groups say
RAMALLAH — The Israeli army rounded up at least 25 more Palestinians in fresh military raids in the occupied West Bank, according to prisoners’ affairs groups on Monday.
Minors and former prisoners were among the detainees in the raids that targeted several areas in Hebron and Ramallah, the Commission of Detainees’ Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoner Society said in a joint statement.
The arrests came amid military raids by the Israeli army that have killed at least 55 people and displaced thousands in the northern West Bank since Jan. 21.
According to the statement, at least 160 Palestinians were arrested by Israeli forces in Jenin and 130 others in Tulkarem in the northern West Bank since last month.
The new arrests brought the number of Palestinians detained by the Israeli army in the West Bank since October 2023 to over 14,500, including those who were released after being arrested, according to Palestinian figures.
The figure does not include those arrested from the Gaza Strip whose numbers are estimated to be in the thousands.
Over the past few years, the Israeli military has conducted regular raids in the West Bank, which have escalated with the beginning of the war on Gaza on Oct. 7, 2023. Palestinians have also been violently attacked by illegal Israeli settlers.
At least 916 Palestinians have since been killed and over 7,000 others injured by Israeli army fire in the occupied territory, according to the Health Ministry.
In July 2024, the International Court of Justice declared Israel’s decades-long occupation of Palestinian land illegal and demanded the evacuation of all existing settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. — AA
