RAMALLAH, Palestine

The Israeli army on Wednesday detained 26 more Palestinians in military raids across the occupied West Bank, prisoners’ affairs groups said.

According to a joint statement for the Commission of Detainees’ Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoner Society, the new arrests bring the total number of Palestinians detained by the Israeli army in the West Bank since October last year to 10,000, including those who were released after being arrested.

The statement noted that the figure doesn't include those arrested from the Gaza Strip whose numbers are estimated to be in 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 620 Palestinians have since been killed and nearly 5,400 others injured by Israeli army fire in the occupied territory, according to the Health Ministry.

In a landmark opinion on July 19, the International Court of Justice 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.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar