By Qais Abu Samra
RAMALLAH, Palestine (AA) – The Israeli army rounded up at least 15 more Palestinians in military raids in the occupied West Bank, according to prisoners’ affairs groups on Wednesday.
A woman was among the detainees in the raids that targeted several towns in the occupied territory, including Hebron, Nablus, Jenin, Tulkarem, and Ramallah, the Commission of Detainees’ Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoner Society said in a joint statement.
The new arrests brought the number of Palestinians detained by the Israeli army in the West Bank since October last year to over 11,700, including those who were released after being arrested, according to Palestinian figures.
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 Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza on Oct. 7, 2023. Palestinians have also been violently attacked by illegal Israeli settlers.
Nearly 785 Palestinians have since been killed and over 6,400 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.
*Writing by Ahmed Asmar