Israeli army arrests 33 Palestinians in occupied West Bank, including 2 journalists

The Israeli army arrested 33 Palestinians, including two journalists, two minors and former prisoners, during raids across the occupied West Bank on Thursday, according to the Palestinian Prisoners Media Office. In a statement, the non-governmental group said Israeli forces raided dozens of homes and searched them, damaging the contents of some properties during the campaign, which was concentrated in the provinces of Nablus, Bethlehem, Hebron, Jenin, Tubas and Tulkarem. The group said 17 Palestinians were arrested in Nablus, seven in Bethlehem, three in Hebron, one in Jenin, two in Tubas and three in Tulkarem. It identified two journalists among those arrested as Sabri Mousa Jibril and Muath Ammarna, both from Bethlehem. In Jenin, an Israeli special forces unit infiltrated the area around the Interior Ministry roundabout and arrested a former prisoner, according to the group. The arrests also included minors and other former prisoners, including one who had been released just a few days earlier, it added. The group said the escalation in arrests, home raids and property damage, along with the targeting of journalists, children and former prisoners, was part of an “ongoing policy of intimidation and arrests against Palestinians.” It added that arrest campaigns have continued across the occupied West Bank amid an ongoing Israeli escalation since the outbreak of the genocidal war in the Gaza Strip on Oct. 7, 2023. Since then, Israel has intensified raids and arrests in the West Bank, alongside an increase in attacks by occupiers and demolitions of Palestinian homes and other structures. According to the Palestinian Prisoners Society, more than 9,400 Palestinians are held in Israeli prisons, including 370 children and 92 women, amid reports by rights groups that some prisoners have been subjected to torture and medical neglect.