Israeli forces detain nearly 100 Palestinians in occupied West Bank raids
Arrests spanned multiple cities and included a former Palestinian deputy prime minister, as occupied West Bank operations intensify amid the Gaza genocide.
Israeli forces have detained nearly 100 Palestinians in a series of large-scale raids across the occupied northern West Bank, witnesses told Anadolu, marking one of the most extensive arrest campaigns in recent months.
Troops stormed Nablus, Salfit, Jericho, and several towns in Jenin, Tulkarem, and Qalqilya, as well as two neighborhoods in occupied East Jerusalem on Wednesday. According to an Anadolu correspondent, Israeli forces arrested around 50 people in Nablus, 15 in Salfit, 13 in Jericho, and 20 in occupied East Jerusalem, with some later released following field interrogations.
Among those detained in Jenin was Nasser Al-Din Al-Shaer, the former Palestinian deputy prime minister and education minister from 2006 to 2007. He was held for several hours before being released, witnesses said.
Continued attacks by illegal Israeli settlers
The arrests come as Israel intensifies its raids in the occupied West Bank alongside its brutal war on Gaza. Since October 2023, at least 1,092 Palestinians have been killed and nearly 11,000 wounded in army and illegal settler attacks in the occupied West Bank, while more than 21,000 people have been detained.
International scrutiny has also grown. In a landmark advisory 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 occupied West Bank and occupied East Jerusalem.