By Awad Rjoub
RAMALLAH (AA) - The Israeli army detained 20 more Palestinians on Saturday in various areas of the occupied West Bank, according to a statement by the Prisoners and Ex-Prisoners Affairs Authority and the Palestinian Prisoners Society.
The new arrests brought the number of Palestinians detained by Israeli forces since Oct. 7 to 5,680, it said.
“The arrest toll includes those detained from their homes, through military checkpoints, those forced to surrender under pressure, and those held as hostages,” the groups said in a statement.
It added that “Israeli occupation forces have arrested at least 22 citizens from the West Bank since yesterday evening (Friday) until this Saturday evening.”
The statement said: “Occupation forces continue to carry out wide-scale invasion and harassment operations during arrest campaigns, blatant beatings, threats against the detainees and their families, in addition to extensive acts of sabotage and destruction in the homes of citizens.”
According to an annual report from prisoner organizations, the number of prisoners reached around 8,800 by the end of December, including more than 80 female prisoners.
*Writing by Rania Abu Shamala