Israeli violations against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank are escalating, as Israeli occupation forces launched a wide-scale arrest campaign from Tuesday evening to Wednesday morning, detaining at least 45 Palestinians from various governorates, including a child and former detainees.
This campaign was accompanied by violent raids, field interrogations, and abuse of detainees and their families, a scene repeated daily, revealing the systematic and punitive nature of this policy.
The latest wave of arrests was concentrated in the Hebron governorate, where around 30 individuals were detained. The remaining arrests occurred in Nablus, Ramallah, Qalqilya, and Tulkarm.
The operations involved raiding dozens of homes, vandalising their contents, and subjecting residents to physical and verbal assaults. Field interrogations were carried out in the vicinity of homes and public roads, illustrating how the occupation continues to use arrests as a tool of intimidation and collective control.
These campaigns form part of a broader system of arbitrary detention adopted by the Israeli occupation in Palestinian territories for decades, in clear violation of international humanitarian law, particularly the Fourth Geneva Convention, which prohibits occupying powers from arbitrarily detaining civilians or transferring them from occupied territories.
Israeli occupation’s actions also contravene the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, both of which guarantee every person the right to liberty, personal security, and protection from arbitrary detention or torture.
Field evidence shows that arrests are no longer limited to political activists or resistance fighters, students, academics, women, children, and even the elderly are now routinely targeted. Field interrogations are used as a form of humiliation, often accompanied by beatings, insults, and temporary detention without warrants, constituting a clear violation of human dignity.
The occupation uses mass arrests as collective punishment after any political or security incident, turning Palestinian towns and refugee camps into nightly military raid zones, often followed by destruction and terrorising of residents. Detainees are frequently subjected to psychological and physical abuse during transport and interrogation, amid a lack of real judicial oversight.
The latest arrest campaign underscores that the Israeli occupation continues to employ repression and arbitrary detention as political tools to subjugate Palestinians in the West Bank, with complete disregard for international law or basic human rights.
While the world speaks of “de-escalation” and “stability,” Palestinians on the ground continue to face silent, systematic oppression, at home, in the streets, and in schools, with no serious international accountability. This entrenches a brutal reality of forced colonialism that defies even the most basic principles of justice and human rights.