Israeli Security Forces Detain Palestinian Women in West Bank Raids Across Hebron, Ramallah, Nablus, Bethlehem

Israeli security forces detained Palestinian women in West Bank raids on Wednesday, with Abdelrahman Badr saying he heard footsteps outside his home in Hebron shortly after 1 a.m. and that Itaf Badr was driven away in the dead of night for questioning.

“The forcible displacement of the Palestinian population has intensified since October 2023”

Amnesty International France

The Washington Post reported that the early morning raids targeted multiple cities, including Hebron, Ramallah, Nablus and Bethlehem, and that Abdullah Al-Zaghari, head of the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club, said security forces are detaining more women and girls.

Amnesty International France

The BBC described how Israel imprisons Palestinians without indictment through administrative detention, saying Yazen Alhasnat was released nearly five months after being arrested during an Israeli military raid at 4 a.m. in Bethlehem.

The BBC quoted Yazen saying, "They have a secret file," and added that he said, "They don’t tell you what’s in it."

The Washington Post reported that more women are being arrested, with Israeli rights group Hamoked data from the Israel Prison Service saying women and girls make up a small but growing share of the roughly 9,300 Palestinians currently in detention.

It also said administrative detention allows authorities to hold Palestinians for renewable periods of up to six months, and that the military referred questions about the arrests in Ramallah and Nablus to Israel’s Border Police while checking information on Itaf in Hebron.

Arab News PK

The BBC said that in the weeks following October 7, the number of people in administrative detention rose to over 2,800, and that when Yazen was released his family was ordered not to celebrate publicly or speak to the media.

The BBC quoted Jessica Montell, executive director of HaMoked, saying, "Under international law, administrative detention should be a rare exception," and added that she said, "It detains hundreds, thousands of people, without indictment."

Beyond detentions, multiple sources described the West Bank as increasingly constrained by Israeli control, including a separation wall that continues to bisect the landscape of the West Bank and annex lands belonging to Palestinians, according to Middle East Eye.

“In a family home in Bethlehem, in the occupied West Bank, Yazen Alhasnat sits beside his mother and rubs his eyes”

BBC

Middle East Eye quoted Israel’s description of the separation wall, saying, "The anti-terror barrier is a self-defence measure that saves human lives."

Amnesty International France described land confiscation, expropriation, and demolitions in the occupied West Bank intensifying since October 2023, and it said a road project for Israeli settlers plans to annex soon a third of what remains of Wadi Fukin.

Amnesty International France included a line from a participant writing, "Even in its ruin, we will continue to love the land until our last breath," tying the stakes of the occupation to daily life and the risk of displacement.