Israeli army arrests 30 more Palestinians in West Bank raids

By Qais Abu Samra

RAMALLAH, Palestine (AA) – At least 30 more Palestinians were detained in fresh Israeli military raids in the occupied West Bank on Thursday, prisoners’ affairs groups said.

The arrests took place in the cities of Hebron, Bethlehem, Ramallah, East Jerusalem, Tulkarem and Nablus, the Commission of Detainees’ Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoner Society said in a joint statement.

The new arrests brought the total number of Palestinians detained by the Israeli army in the West Bank since October last year to more than 10,000, the statement said.

The two groups said the figure doesn't 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 632 Palestinians have since been killed and nearly 5,400 others injured by Israeli army fire in the occupied territory, according to the Health Ministry.

In a landmark opinion on July 19, 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.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar