Israel escalates arrest campaign in West Bank as several Palestinians nabbed in raids

The Israeli military has detained several more Palestinians during incursions in the occupied West Bank, amid a sharp rise in arrest campaigns in the aftermath of the Hamas-led October 7 operation against the occupied territories.

The Israeli forces stormed towns and camps in al-Khalil, Qalqilya, Bethlehem, Jericho, and Nablus, in the early hours of Wednesday, rounding up Palestinians, and destroying and ransacking their houses, while confrontations and clashes also reportedly broke out in several areas between residents and Israeli troopers.

Local media reports said that the Israeli military arrested at least six Palestinians during a raid on the Fawwar refugee camp, south of al-Khalil in the occupied West Bank.

One of the arrested men, Tariq Abu Hammad, had been freed from Israeli detention only days before.

They also raided the town of Bani Naim, east of al-Khalil, and stormed the family home of prisoner Abdul Hamid Abu Jarur, according to reports. 

During the storming of the Al-Kasara area in al-Khalil, Israeli forces confiscated Palestinian vehicles, Haifa-based news website Arab48 reported.

Israeli forces also arrested a Palestinian man in the Aqbat Jabr refugee camp south of Jericho.

The occupation forces stormed the al-Shuraim neighborhood in the city of Qalqilya with military vehicles and searched several homes, reports added.

They also carried out search and arrest campaigns in the al-Mansour neighborhood in the village of Azzun, east of Qalqilya.

Israeli soldiers also arrested a young Palestinian man, identified as Abdullah Muayyad Barham, in Qalqilya.

In Nablus, the occupation forces raided the villages of Yatma and Douma. They arrested a young Palestinian man, identified as Khattab Salouda, from Duma after searching his house, vandalizing its contents, and confiscating mobile phones.

Residents also told local media that Israeli drones flew intensely in the sky of the city of Nablus, especially the western region.

Palestine's official news agency WAFA reported on Tuesday that Israeli occupation forces detained at least 10 Palestinians in multiple raids across the occupied West Bank in the cities of Bethlehem, Tulkarm, Jericho, and Ramallah.

According to the Commission of Detainees’ Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoners Society, a girl was among the detainees in the raids that took place on Tuesday in the occupied cities.

Palestinian Prisoner's Day: How Palestinians in Israeli jails face abuse and torture

 Since the start of Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, the number of Palestinian prisoners has doubled in Israeli prisons where they face systemic abuse and torture on bogus charges.

In the shadow of Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza which has so far killed more than 34,500 people, record numbers of Palestinian detainees are filling Israeli-run prisons, where they face “systemic abuse” and torture, rights groups report.

According to the Ramallah-based Addameer prisoners’ rights group, massive arrest campaigns have almost doubled the number of Palestinians in Israeli prisons from about 5,200 Palestinians lodged in Israeli prisons before October 7.

Currently, 9,500 Palestinians are held illegally in Israeli jails, including 3,660, under the so-called administrative detention without formal charges, for periods ranging from several months to several years.

The detainees also include 200 children, 56 journalists, and 80 women.

However, the figures exclude detainees from Gaza who are held under Israel’s illegal policy of “enforced disappearance.”

Israel has detained thousands of Palestinians during the ground invasion of Gaza and is still “refusing” to provide any information on their whereabouts, the Palestinian Prisoners Society says.

Rights groups’ reports, testimonies from released detainees, video footage and images of torture, and other ill-treatment of the prisoners, including starvation and medical negligence, reveal that Israel is systematically violating the rights of Palestinians in detention centers.

In a fact sheet released on April 17, concurrent with Palestinians Prison Day, the Palestinian Prisoners Society reported that 16 Palestinian detainees have been killed in Israeli detention facilities since October 7, 2023.

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