RAMALLAH, Palestine / ISTANBUL

The Israeli army detained nearly 100 Palestinians on Wednesday in large-scale arrest campaigns across several northern West Bank cities.

Witnesses told Anadolu that Israeli forces raided Nablus, Salfit, and multiple towns in Jenin, Tulkarem, and Qalqilya, as well as Jericho and two towns in occupied East Jerusalem.

Israeli forces arrested 50 Palestinians in Nablus, 15 in Salfit, 13 in Jericho, and 20 others in East Jerusalem, some of whom were released after field interrogations, according to an Anadolu correspondent.

Among those detained in Jenin was Nasser Al-Din Al-Shaer, former Deputy Prime Minister of the Palestinian National Authority and Minister of Education and Higher Education in 2006-2007.

Al-Shaer was released after being held for several hours in a field interrogation.

The Israeli army has escalated its attacks in the West Bank since the start of the Gaza war in October 2023.

At least 1,092 Palestinians have been killed and nearly 11,000 injured in attacks by the army and illegal Israeli settlers in the West Bank since October 2023. Over 21,000 people have also been arrested.

In a landmark opinion issued in July last year, the International Court of Justice declared Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory illegal and called for the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.