Israeli forces arrest 600 Palestinians in the West Bank and Jerusalem

The Palestinian Center for Prisoner Studies documented 600 arrests carried out by Israeli occupation authorities in the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem during July, including 55 minors and 14 women and girls. This brings the total number of arrests since October 7, 2023, to 24,600.

In a press release issued Sunday, the center explained that occupation forces continued their mass arrest campaigns in Palestinian villages, camps, and towns. These campaigns involved raiding homes, destroying their contents, and detaining those arrested inside confiscated houses after evicting their owners. The detainees were then subjected to field interrogations lasting for hours, after which most were released following humiliation, beatings, and threats.

The center accused the occupation authorities of pursuing a systematic policy of depleting the human resources of the West Bank by arresting hundreds monthly and subjecting hundreds more to field interrogations, most of whom are young people. This policy is part of a broader strategy of collective punishment and oppression against Palestinians. The center noted that the arrest campaigns during July included 55 children under the age of eighteen, some of whom were released after hours or days of investigation, while others were transferred to detention centers, and some of them were transferred to administrative detention without any charges being brought against them.