From Monday evening until Tuesday morning , occupation forces arrested 35 Palestinians, including children and former prisoners, as part of an ongoing arrest campaign focused on the governorates of Nablus, Salfit, Qalqilya, Jenin, Tulkarm, Hebron, and Bethlehem, according to a joint statement issued by the Palestinian Prisoners Club and the Commission of Prisoners' Affairs.
The statement explained that the number of arrests in the West Bank, including occupied Jerusalem, has exceeded 18,000 since the start of the war on the Gaza Strip on October 7, 2023, not counting the number of detainees in Gaza, which is estimated in the thousands.
He pointed out that the occupation currently holds approximately 10,800 Palestinians in its prisons, including 50 women and 450 children, in addition to 3,629 administrative detainees held without trial or charge. Human rights reports indicate that prisoners are subjected to torture, medical neglect, and starvation, leading to the deaths of several of them.
In the same context, Palestinian citizens reported that the occupation forces have been continuing a systematic demolition campaign for months targeting the Tulkarm and Nur Shams refugee camps in the northern occupied West Bank. Dozens of homes have been completely or partially demolished, sparking widespread shock among the residents.
Speakers noted that the demolitions are not limited to homes accused of resistance activity, but also extend to homes for which no prior warnings were issued. They asserted that the occupation seeks to "obliterate the urban and social character of the camps" by dividing them into blocks and demolishing their residential and commercial infrastructure.
According to official data, the Israeli occupation army issued demolition orders for 106 buildings in the two camps last May, including 58 buildings in Tulkarm, comprising more than 250 housing units, and 48 buildings in Nur Shams. Since January 21, the occupation has completely destroyed more than 600 homes and partially damaged approximately 2,573 others in the same area.
UN warning
In a related development, the UN Human Rights Office warned of a sharp increase in Israeli settler attacks against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and occupied East Jerusalem, describing the situation as potentially amounting to "crimes against humanity."
The Geneva-based office stated that 96 Palestinians were injured in June, the highest monthly toll in more than twenty years, in addition to the destruction of hundreds of homes and civilian property.
The office's spokesperson noted that these attacks contribute to Israel's illegal annexation of parts of the West Bank, stressing that the forced displacement of civilians in the occupied territories "may constitute a crime against humanity under international law."
The office also stated that the occupation forces are using excessive force against unarmed civilians, pointing to tragic incidents, including the death of a two-year-old Palestinian child after being shot in the head by Israeli forces last January, as well as the death of a 61-year-old man while riding a bicycle this July.
Since the beginning of this year, the United Nations has recorded 757 attacks by settlers, resulting in human and material losses, a 13% increase compared to the same period last year.
In parallel with the genocide in Gaza, the Israeli occupation army and settlers in the West Bank, including occupied Jerusalem, killed at least 999 Palestinians, injured nearly 7,000, and arrested more than 18,000, according to Palestinian data.
Since October 7, 2023, Israel, with American support, has been committing genocide in Gaza, including killing, starvation, destruction, and forced displacement, ignoring all international calls and orders from the International Court of Justice to halt it.
The genocide left more than 197,000 Palestinians dead or wounded, most of them children and women, and more than 10,000 missing. Hundreds of thousands were displaced, and famine claimed the lives of many, including dozens of children.
For decades, Israel has occupied Palestine and territories in Syria and Lebanon, and refuses to withdraw from these territories and establish an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital, along the pre-1967 borders.
