In a recurring pattern that entrenches a policy of collective repression and deepens violations of Palestinians’ fundamental rights, Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) launched a wave of arbitrary arrests at dawn on Thursday across cities and towns in the occupied West Bank, deliberately storming homes during the pre dawn hours of the second day of Ramadan.
A Palestinian was wounded by the IOF gunfire during a raid on the town of Beit Ula, west of Hebron, while at least 37 Palestinians were detained in simultaneous incursions targeting Hebron, Qalqilya, and other areas.
IOF raided homes and commercial premises and ransacked their contents. They also converted a residential building in Jabal Jalis in Hebron into a military outpost, in an egregious violation of the sanctity of private dwellings and of the rights to privacy and personal security.
Video footage showed detainees bound and blindfolded as they were led away for interrogation, in scenes of degrading ill treatment that cannot be justified under any security pretext. Such conduct constitutes a clear breach of the absolute prohibition on cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, a prohibition that is non derogable under any circumstances, including situations of armed conflict.
In Qalqilya, the IOF stormed the city’s eastern district, the Askar New Camp, and Middle al Ta’awun Street, carrying out further arrests of 13 Palestinians after searching homes and vandalising their contents.
These raids form part of an escalating pattern of arbitrary detention, whereby individuals are held without any judicial guarantees and many are denied the right to know the reasons for their arrest or to have prompt access to legal counsel.
Since the outbreak of the war on the Gaza Strip in October 2023, violations in the West Bank have intensified, encompassing killings, arrests, displacement, and settlement expansion, within what is widely regarded as a systematic policy aimed at imposing coercive facts on the ground.
These assaults have resulted in the killing of more than 1,116 Palestinians and the injury of approximately 11,500 others, in addition to the arrest of nearly 22,000 Palestinians across the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.
Legally, the occupying power bears full responsibility for protecting the civilian population and safeguarding their fundamental rights, not subjecting them to abuse. International humanitarian law affirms that persons living under occupation are protected persons and prohibits their exposure to collective punishment, reprisals, or degrading treatment.
The use of force and live ammunition against civilians is lawful only within the narrowest bounds and under strict conditions, conditions that the facts on the ground raise serious doubts about being observed.
The nocturnal storming of homes, the binding and blindfolding of detainees, and the conversion of residential buildings into military sites reflect a systematic policy of repression that disregards international legal obligations and compounds the suffering of civilians, particularly in a month when the sanctity of the home and the dignity of the human being ought to be preserved.
