As part of expanding its military presence in the occupied West Bank, the Israeli military has detained dozens of Palestinians.
At least 50 people were arrested in overnight raids, according to the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society (PPS) and the Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs, both cited by a report by the Palestinian news agency Wafa on Wednesday.
According to Wafa’s report, the military rounded up people for interrogation in the governorates of Hebron, Tulkarem, Qalqilya, Nablus, Ramallah, Bethlehem, Jericho and Tubas.
Israeli troops stormed the Majed Abu Sharar School in Dura, near Hebron, on Wednesday, according to the Palestinian Prisoners’ Media Office.
Palestinian organizations claim that there have been more than 14,500 Palestinians detained by the Israeli army since October 2023, including those who were later released.
The Gaza Strip’s arrests, whose numbers are thought to be in the thousands, are not included in the figure.
The West Bank’s intensified military offensive, which began after the Gaza ceasefire was agreed a month ago, led to the mass detentions.
In a month, the Jenin, Tulkarem, and Nur Shams camps in the West Bank were home to at least 62 Palestinians killed and about 40, 000 people were evacuated from them.
Philippe Lazzarini, the commissioner general of the United Nations ‘ agency for Palestinian refugees, on Wednesday said the occupied West Bank was now a “battlefield” facing an “alarming spillover” of the Gaza war.
Meanwhile, the Israeli military issued new evacuation orders for the residents of the Nur Shams camp, located east of the town of Tulkarem, before the planned demolition of 11 residential buildings.
Wafa claims that Israeli forces only allowed the residents to leave their homes in three hours. Families were seen leaving their homes with only the small items they were able to bring with them.
The Israeli army announced an “extended stay” for the upcoming year to combat Palestinian armed groups on Sunday, making it the first such deployment since its crackdown on the second Intifada in 2002.
The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates said the move was a continuation of Israel’s “genocide, displacement and annexation”.
The Palestinian Authority also blasted Israeli forces’ repeated attempts to obstruct ambulances in the West Bank, accusing them of breaking international humanitarian law.
An ambulance is intentionally obstructed by Israeli occupation forces, preventing access to the hospital, and preventing life-saving medical care. Another flagrant violation of international law and a third collective punishment of the Palestinian people’s defenseless behavior. pic. twitter.com/hpWrz9ZYPC
The PA’s governing body warned that Israeli authorities were planning to “impose unprecedented repressive policies” to further isolate occupied East Jerusalem and its Palestinian surroundings ahead of the holy Muslim month of Ramadan, which is scheduled to begin on Saturday.
The al-Aqsa Mosque compound’s Muslim worshippers were to be restricted, according to Israel. The military has increased its presence at 82 military checkpoints and has already deployed 3, 000 armed personnel to those areas that surround East Jerusalem.
The Israeli army in the occupied West Bank has claimed the lives of at least 924 Palestinians and injured more than 7 000 others, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
Source: Aljazeera
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