Israel rounds up 85 more Palestinians in West Bank raids

By Qais Abu Samra

RAMALLAH, Palestine (AA) – Israeli army forces detained another 85 Palestinians in military raids carried out across the occupied West Bank on Thursday, a local nongovernmental organization said.

One girl was among the detainees, the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society said in a statement.

Tensions have been running high across the West Bank amid an Israeli military onslaught on the Gaza Strip following a cross-border attack by Hamas on Oct. 7.

At least 195 Palestinians have been killed and over 2,500 others injured by Israeli army fire in the occupied territory since Oct. 7, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.

Around 2,735 people have also been detained by the Israeli army in the West Bank during the same period, according to figures released by prisoners’ affairs groups.

Before the outbreak of the Gaza conflict, the number of Palestinian detainees in Israeli jails was estimated at around 5,200, including more than 1,000 held under the notorious administrative detention policy without charge or trial.

*Writing by Ziad Aslan in Ankara