Israeli forces detained 32 Palestinians from towns in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, in military raids on Thursday, according to a prisoners’ advocacy group.
Among those detained were former legislator Hatem Qafisha from the Hebron governorate in the southern West Bank, as well as a child and former prisoners, the Prisoners’ Media Office said.
Israeli forces conducted home searches and damaged personal property during incursions into multiple areas, the statement said.
The escalation in arrests, particularly targeting children, former prisoners and elected lawmakers, reflects the continued use of detention as a tool of repression and collective punishment, the office said.
Israel has intensified its military aggression in the occupied West Bank since launching its genocidal war on Gaza on October 8 2023, including killings, arrests, forced displacement and settlement expansion, a trajectory Palestinians say is aimed at paving the way for the formal annexation of the occupied territory.
More than 1,112 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank, around 11,500 wounded and more than 21,000 detained since, according to Palestinian estimates.
