Israeli forces arrest 40 more Palestinians in West Bank raids

RAMALLAH, Palestine

The Israeli army rounded up at least 40 more Palestinians in fresh military raids in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday, according to prisoners’ affairs groups.

Former prisoners were among the detainees in the raids that targeted several towns in the West Bank, the Commission of Detainees’ Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoner Society said in a joint statement.

The arrests came as the Israeli army has continued a deadly military offensive in the northern West Bank since Jan. 21, killing at least 70 Palestinians and displacing thousands.

The new arrests brought the number of Palestinians detained by the Israeli army in the West Bank since October 2023 to over 15,640, 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.

The Israeli army renewed deadly airstrikes on Gaza on Tuesday, killing at least 404 people and injuring hundreds, breaking a ceasefire agreement that took hold in January.

Tension has been running high across the occupied West Bank, where at least 936 Palestinians have been killed and nearly 7,000 injured in attacks by the Israeli army and illegal settlers since the start of the Gaza onslaught on Oct. 7, 2023, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.

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.