RAMALLAH, Palestine

The Israeli army on Saturday detained 30 more Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.

According to a joint statement issued by the Prisoners and Ex-Prisoners Affairs Authority and the Palestinian Prisoners Society, the new arrests brought the total number of Palestinians detained by the Israeli forces since Oct. 7 to 8,340.

The latest arrests took place mostly in the Nur Shams camp in Tulkarm which is subject to an Israeli military operation since Thursday.

Earlier Saturday, Mu’ayyad Shaa’ban, the head of the Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission and a resident of Nur Shams camp, told Anadolu that Israel is committing “genocide” in the camp.

Parallel to its ongoing war on Gaza since Oct 7, the Israeli army has escalated raids and arrests in the West Bank, including occupied Jerusalem.

The Palestinian Health Ministry said 469 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces in the West Bank since Oct. 7.

The destructive war on Gaza has resulted in more than 34,000 deaths and injuries, most of them children and women, along with massive destruction and a famine that claimed the lives of children and elderly, according to Palestinian and international data.

Israel continues this war despite a UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire. Tel Aviv is also facing charges of committing "genocide" before the International Court of Justice.

*Writing by Ikram Kouachi