By Qais Abu Samra
RAMALLAH
The Israeli army detained 33 Palestinians in overnight raids in Jerusalem and the West Bank, a Palestinian NGO said Monday.
According to the Palestinian Prisoners' Society, an NGO that advocates for the rights of Palestinian detainees, 23 Palestinians were arrested in Jerusalem, four in Hebron, four in Nablus, one in Jenin, and one in Ramallah.
Israeli forces routinely conduct arrest campaigns against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank on claims they are "wanted" by Israeli authorities.
The frequency of arrest campaigns has risen over the past few weeks due to increasing unrest in Jerusalem since Israeli settlers kidnapped and killed a Palestinian boy in early July.
Tension mounted further after Israel closed the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound on Thursday following the shooting of an extremist Jewish rabbi in the city.
Israeli authorities reopened Al-Aqsa on Friday following a day of violent clashes with Palestinian protesters, but barred male Muslim worshippers under 50 years old from entering the religious site.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, for his part, warned that the closure of the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound constituted a "declaration of war" on the Palestinian people and their sacred places.
For Muslims, Al-Aqsa represents the world's third holiest site. Jews, for their part, refer to the area as the "Temple Mount," claiming it was the site of two Jewish temples in ancient times.
Israel occupied East Jerusalem during the 1967 Middle East War. It later annexed the holy city in 1980, claiming it as the capital of the self-proclaimed Jewish state – a move never recognized by the international community.
Currently, over 7,000 Palestinians continue to languish in prisons throughout Israel, according to the Ministry of Prisoners' Affairs.
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