RAMALLAH, Palestine

Israeli forces detained 16 Palestinians in overnight raids carried out across the occupied West Bank, the Israeli military announced on Monday.  

The individuals were arrested for “suspected involvement in popular terrorist activities”, the army claimed in a statement without elaborating.
The detainees have been remanded into custody for further investigation, the statement said.  

According to official Palestinian figures, some 6,500 Palestinians are currently languishing in Israeli prisons, including 62 women and some 350 minors.  

The Israeli army frequently carries out sweeping arrest campaigns across the occupied West Bank on the pretext of searching for “wanted” Palestinians.  

The Palestinian territories have remained tense since last December, when U.S. President Donald Trump officially recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.  

Occupied by Israel in 1967, East Jerusalem -- which the Palestinians want as the capital of a future Palestinian state -- remains at the heart of the decades-long Middle East conflict.