By Qais Abu Samra and Betul Yilmaz
RAMALLAH, Palestine (AA) – The Israeli army rounded up scores of Palestinians in a military raid near the West Bank city of Ramallah on Tuesday, witnesses said.
Israeli forces raided the town of Beit Rima, north of Ramallah, and turned several houses there into military outposts, they said.
Scores of Palestinians were held by Israeli forces for field interrogation as a curfew was imposed in the town, according to witnesses.
The raid came hours after the army detained dozens in military incursions in various areas across the occupied West Bank on Monday night.
At least 65 Palestinians have been killed and thousands displaced in Israeli military raids in the northern West Bank since Jan. 21.
Palestinian authorities have warned that the Israeli military offensive is part of a broader plan by Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to annex the West Bank and declare sovereignty over it, which could officially mark the end of the two-state solution.
The raids were the latest in military escalation in the West Bank, where at least 928 Palestinians have been killed and nearly 7,000 injured in attacks by the Israeli army and illegal settlers since the start of the onslaught against the Gaza Strip on Oct. 7, 2023, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.
The International Court of Justice declared in July last year that Israel’s long-standing occupation of Palestinian territories is "unlawful," demanding the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.