1,700 Palestinians arrested by Israel since April: NGO

RAMALLAH, Palestine

Israeli forces have detained 1,700 Palestinians since April 13, according to a Palestinian NGO on Tuesday.

In a statement, the Palestinian Prisoner Society said more than 400 people were arrested in occupied East Jerusalem and 450 others in other areas across the occupied West Bank.

According to the statement, more than 850 Arab Israelis were arrested by Israeli police since May 9.

The Israeli army staged a military offensive in the Gaza Strip on May 10 during which 213 Palestinians have been killed, including 61 children and 36 women, and 1,442 others injured, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.

In the West Bank, 22 Palestinians have been killed in clashes with Israeli forces.

Ten Israelis have also been killed by Palestinian rocket fire from the Gaza Strip.

The tensions that started in East Jerusalem during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan spread to Gaza as a result of Israeli assaults on worshippers in the flashpoint Al-Aqsa Mosque compound and Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood.

Israel occupied East Jerusalem, where Al-Aqsa is located, during the 1967 Arab-Israeli war. It annexed the entire city in 1980 in a move never recognized by the international community.

*Ahmed Asmar in Ankara contributed to this report