RAMALLAH, Palestine

The Israeli army on Tuesday detained 16 more Palestinians in military raids across the occupied West Bank, according to prisoners’ affairs groups.

The arrests took place in the cities of Qalqilya, Nablus, Ramallah, Bethlehem Hebron, and Jericho, the Commission of Detainees’ Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoner Society said in a joint statement.

The Israeli forces assaulted and threatened the detainees and their family members, as well as vandalized their homes, the statement added.

The new arrests brought the total number of Palestinians detained by the Israeli army in the West Bank since October last year to 9,600, including those who were released after being arrested, according to Palestinian figures.

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 571 Palestinians, including at least 133 children, have since been killed and nearly 5,350 others injured by Israeli army fire in the occupied territory, according to the Health Ministry.

Israel stands accused of “genocide” at the International Court of Justice, which, in its latest ruling, has ordered Tel Aviv to immediately halt its military operation in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, where over a million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.

* Writing by Ahmed Asmar