Israel: army detains 35 more Palestinians in occupied West Bank raids

The Israeli occupation security forces rounded up 35 more Palestinians across the occupied West Bank early on Wednesday, Anadolu has reported. According to prisoners’ affairs groups, the raids took place in a number of areas of the occupied territory, including Tulkarm, Nablus, Salfit, Jenin, Ramallah, Jerusalem, Hebron and Jericho.

The Commission of Detainees’ Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoners’ Society said in a joint statement that those detained were taken from their homes or military checkpoints and forced to surrender. The organisations pointed out that at least 6,255 Palestinians have been detained by the Israeli army in the West Bank since 7 October.

Tensions have been high across the West Bank since Israel launched a deadly military offensive against the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. The bombardment started after the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas, led an armed incursion into the occupation state on 7 October, targeting Israeli army barracks and settlements.

According to Israel, 1,200 people were killed in the incursion, soldiers and civilians, although it has since been revealed that many of the Israelis were not killed by Hamas, but by Israel tanks and helicopter gunships. At least 253 people were taken into Gaza as hostages, some of whom were later released in a prisoner exchange in November.

Israel’s ongoing military offensive against the Palestinians in Gaza has killed more than 25,000 Palestinians, most of them children and women, and wounded almost 65,000 others. At least 8,000 are missing, presumed dead under the rubble of their homes. Civilian infrastructure has been targeted and destroyed by Israel, including hospitals, schools and places of worship, both Muslim and Christian.

READ: Amnesty warns of ‘worrying signs of genocide in Gaza’