Over 12,100 Palestinians detained by Israeli army in West Bank since Oct. 7, 2023, according to Palestinian figures
At least 15 more Palestinians were detained in Israeli military raids in the occupied West Bank, prisoners' affairs groups said on Thursday.
A journalist from Bethlehem was among the detainees in the raids that targeted several areas across the occupied territory, the Commission of Detainees' Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoner Society said in a joint statement.
“The raids were marked by abuse, threats against detainees and their families, and acts of vandalism and destruction on citizens' homes,” it added.
According to the statement, Israeli forces interrogated dozens of people in the town of Halhul, north of Hebron city in the southern West Bank.
The new arrests brought the number of Palestinians detained by the Israeli army in the West Bank since October last year to over 12,100, 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 834 Palestinians have since been killed and over 6,500 others injured by Israeli army fire in the occupied territory, according to the Health Ministry.
The escalation follows a landmark opinion in July by the International Court of Justice that 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.
