RAMALLAH, Palestine / ANKARA

The Israeli army rounded up at least 35 more Palestinians in fresh military raids in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday, according to prisoners’ affairs groups.

The arrests took place in several towns and areas in the West Bank, the Commission of Detainees’ Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoner Society said in a joint statement.

During the raids, Israeli army forces stormed several Palestinian homes, vandalized properties, and interrogated dozens of people, the statement said.

The raids came as the Israeli army has continued a deadly military offensive in the northern West Bank since January, killing over 70 Palestinians, displacing thousands, and turning many homes into military outposts.

Tuesday’s arrests brought the number of Palestinians detained by the Israeli army in the West Bank since October 2023 to over 15,800, including those who were released after being arrested, according to Palestinian figures.

The figure does not include those arrested from the Gaza Strip, whose numbers are estimated to be in the thousands.

Tension has been running high across the occupied West Bank, where at least 946 Palestinians have been killed and nearly 7,000 injured in attacks by the Israeli army and illegal settlers since the start of the Gaza war in October 2023, the Palestinian Health Ministry said.

In July, the International Court of Justice declared Israel’s longstanding occupation of Palestinian territories illegal, calling for the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.