Israel arrests 15 more Palestinians in West Bank raids

The Israeli army rounded up at least 15 Palestinians in military raids in the occupied West Bank, according to prisoners’ affairs groups on Wednesday.

A woman and child were among the detainees in the raids that targeted East Jerusalem, Jericho, Hebron, Tulkarm, Qalqilya 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 12,100, including those who were released after being arrested, according to Palestinian figures.

The figure does not include those arrested from Gaza 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 815 Palestinians have since been killed and nearly 6,500 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.