By Mahmut Geldi
ISTANBUL (AA) – Israeli forces have detained at least 18 people, including two female students, a child, and former detainees, during incursions in different regions of the occupied West Bank, bringing the total number of Palestinians detained to 9,720 since Oct. 7, 2023, rights groups said on Thursday.
Israeli soldiers raided Hebron, Ramallah, Nablus, Bethlehem, and Jerusalem in the West Bank over the past 24 hours, taking into custody 18 people, according to a joint statement from the Detainees and Ex-Detainees Commission and the Palestine Prisoners Society.
During the raids, Israeli soldiers roughed up and assaulted Palestinians, threatened detainees and their families, damaged people's properties, and vandalized them, the statement said.
Since Oct. 7, Israeli forces have detained over 9,720 Palestinians, including 675 children, in the occupied West Bank, the rights groups said.
Over 330 women are among those detained, though this number does not include those taken from Gaza, the statement said.
"There are also journalists among those detained. 51 of the 89 journalists detained since October 7 have not been released. 6 of the detained journalists are women, and at least 16 of them are from Gaza," the statement said.
Since the beginning of the Gaza conflict, more than 7,500 Palestinians have been held in administrative detention. During this period, at least 18 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons died.
Under Israel's administrative detention policy, Palestinians can be detained for one to six months based on intelligence reports, with potential extensions of up to five years if military judges deem them a “security threat,” without any formal charges being filed.
The statement also noted the death of dozens of Palestinians detained from Gaza, though specific details regarding their identities and circumstances remain unclear.
According to Israeli admissions, approximately 4,000 Palestinians from Gaza have been detained since Oct. 7, with only a few hundred released.
However, the rights groups stated that as of July 1, approximately 9,700 Palestinians were held by Israeli troops, with 3,380 under administrative detention.
Damon Prison alone holds 82 Palestinian women, one of whom is pregnant, while at least 250 Palestinian children remain imprisoned across various detention centers.
The increased detentions and raids in occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem reflect a significant escalation in Israeli actions against Palestinians since the onset of military actions in Gaza.