The Israeli army has arrested more than 30 Palestinians and held dozens of others for interrogation for several hours during raids in the occupied West Bank.
Nine people were detained in the northern city of Nablus, according to the official news agency Wafa on Sunday.
Among the detainees was a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council, Jamal Tirawi, and his two sons. The Israeli forces raided Tirawi’s home in the Balata refugee camp before the detentions.
A young Palestinian was also held in Tulkarem, northern occupied West Bank.
In the southern city of Hebron, Israeli troops stormed dozens of homes and damaged their properties for the fourth consecutive day, local sources told Anadolu, adding that nearly 60 Palestinians were held for interrogation.
The Israeli army has escalated its attacks in the occupied West Bank since Tel Aviv’s brutal war on Gaza in October 2023.
More than a thousand Palestinians have since been killed and nearly 11,000 others wounded in attacks by the army and illegal settlers in the occupied territory. More than 20,000 people have also been arrested.
‘Terrorist attacks’
In a statement on Saturday, the Palestinian Foreign Ministry described the illegal Israeli settler violence targeting Palestinians in Nablus, Ramallah, Bethlehem, and Hebron as “terrorist attacks.”
The ministry said these attacks are part of “a dangerous and ongoing escalation within a systematic policy aimed at terrorising our people and creating a repellent environment that facilitates the plans for ethnic cleansing and forced displacement led by the (Israeli) occupation government.”
“The extremist policies of the Israeli government encourage settlers to commit more crimes and fuel organised violence and terrorism against our people in Palestinian cities, villages, and camps,” the statement said.
The ministry demanded the formation of an international protection and peacekeeping force by the UN Security Council to protect the Palestinian people throughout the occupied Palestinian territory and urged the international community to hold “the perpetrators of these heinous crimes accountable in accordance with international law.”
In a landmark opinion last July, 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 East Jerusalem.
