Israeli soldiers detain Palestinians after stopping their car near Huwara checkpoint, the southern entrance to Nablus city, in the occupied West Bank on October 20, 2023. AFP
These arrests coincide with an upsurge in home raids and searches affecting West Bank Palestinians since the commencement of Israel's war on Gaza. Palestinian towns and cities, including Bethlehem, Hebron, Jenin, Nablus, Ramallah, and Jerusalem, have all witnessed such raids, according to WAFA.
Notably, Israeli occupation forces took into custody 15 Palestinians in Hebron, while 11 were detained in Ramallah. In Jerusalem, four individuals, including a woman, were apprehended from the annexed Palestinian capital. Furthermore, 11 Palestinians were arrested in Bethlehem, two in Qalqilta, and five in Jenin, with one among them having a disability.
In a separate operation on Monday, Israeli forces conducted raids in the southern West Bank provinces of Ramallah, Bethlehem, and Hebron, resulting in the arrest of 85 Palestinians.
According to figures released by the Palestinian Prisoners' Club on the same day, Israel has detained 1,215 Palestinians in the West Bank since the commencement of the war on 7 October. It is noteworthy that a quarter of those detained in the West Bank since the outbreak of the conflict are minors and elderly individuals, as highlighted by the Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs Authority, cited by WAFA.
Furthermore, the authority disclosed that Israeli forces have arrested 6,500 Palestinians since the beginning of 2023.
This surge in arrests is occurring alongside Israel's ongoing intensive bombardment of Gaza for 18 consecutive days, which has tragically resulted in the loss of over 5,000 Palestinian lives, including approximately 2,000 children. Numerous buildings have been reduced to rubble, and over a million individuals have been displaced in the besieged territory, where the availability of water, food, and other essential supplies is becoming increasingly scarce.
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