Israel Detains 15 Palestinian Women in Overnight Raid in Qalqilya Governorate

Israeli occupation forces conducted an overnight detention operation in the Qalqilya governorate, arresting at least 15 Palestinian women.

“Wed 18-March-2026 Wednesday 18-March-2026 WEST BANK, (PIC) The Israeli occupation forces (IOF) kidnaped a number of Palestinian citizens, including several women, during raids in the West Bank last night and at dawn Wednesday”

The Palestinian Information Center

The Palestinian Prisoner's Society described these arrests as unprecedented in both scale and the category of those targeted.

The Palestinian Information Center

The mass arrests took place in a single night within one area, representing an escalation in Israel's systematic targeting of Palestinian women.

The Palestinian Information Center reported that Israeli forces kidnapped at least 25 Palestinians following overnight and dawn raids across the West Bank and Jerusalem.

This indicates the operation was part of a broader campaign of mass detentions.

The scale reflects ongoing systematic and retaliatory arrest campaigns carried out daily across the occupied territories.

The detained Palestinian women were primarily targeted based on their familial connections to prisoners and resistance fighters.

Most were wives of released prisoners, wives of current prisoners, and mothers of slain Palestinians.

The Palestinian Information Center

This pattern represents a deliberate strategy by Israeli occupation forces to collectively punish Palestinian families.

The strategy aims to break resistance through psychological pressure on women.

The Palestinian Prisoner's Society emphasized that targeting women has been a prominent historical policy of the occupation.

This policy has escalated dramatically following the Gaza genocide.

Wives, mothers, and sisters of prisoners and those killed were the most frequently targeted groups.

The female detainees face exceptionally harsh detention conditions characterized by systematic human rights violations.

“Wed 18-March-2026 Wednesday 18-March-2026 WEST BANK, (PIC) The Israeli occupation forces (IOF) kidnaped a number of Palestinian citizens, including several women, during raids in the West Bank last night and at dawn Wednesday”

The Palestinian Information Center

These include torture, ill-treatment during interrogation, daily humiliation, and deprivation of basic rights including medical treatment.

According to human rights organizations, 74 female detainees were held in Israeli prisons prior to the latest arrest campaign.

All were reportedly subjected to 'harsh and tragic detention conditions' according to the Palestinian Prisoner's Society.

The conditions include torture and ill-treatment particularly during interrogation.

Daily humiliation and deprivation of basic rights including medical treatment are also reported.

Human rights groups have documented what they term the 'crime of starvation' in these facilities.

These conditions reflect Israel's broader pattern of using detention as a tool of collective punishment.

The mass detention of Palestinian women represents a significant escalation in Israel's systematic repression of the Palestinian population.

Over 700 women have been targeted in the West Bank and dozens in Gaza since the beginning of the ongoing war.

The Palestinian Information Center

The Palestinian Prisoner's Society described this as an 'unprecedented' campaign that has intensified following the Gaza genocide.

This demonstrates Israel's use of detention as a weapon of collective punishment against Palestinian families.

The majority of women arrested have been placed under administrative detention without charge.

Others have been charged with 'incitement' on social media, reflecting a broad net to criminalize Palestinian resistance.

This systematic targeting of women occurs amid broader international condemnation of Israel's policies.

Prevention of legal teams and Red Cross visits violates international humanitarian law.