Israeli forces arrest 762 Palestinians in February, including 90 kids
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According to a report, "the occupation army continued its arrest campaigns in the West Bank, reaching a total of 762 Palestinians in February, with the highest number recorded in Jenin and its refugee camp."
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Two white buses, center, are lined up at the Israeli Ofer prison in the West Bank city of Beitunia, on Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025 (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser)
The Israeli Occupation Force (IOF) arrested 762 Palestinians, including 90 children and 19 women, from various areas in the occupied West Bank during the month of February. The largest number of arrests occurred in Jenin and its refugee camp, as part of a military operation that has been ongoing for over a month.
This was stated in a joint report issued by the Palestinian Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs, the Palestinian Prisoners' Club, and the Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association.
According to the report, "the occupation army continued its arrest campaigns in the West Bank, reaching a total of 762 Palestinians in February, with the highest number recorded in Jenin and its refugee camp."
The report also confirmed that among those detained, "90 children and 19 women were documented," noting "a rise in field interrogations, which targeted hundreds of Palestinians over the past month." The report further noted that since the start of the Israeli offensive in the northern West Bank on January 21, "the army has arrested 300 Palestinians from Jenin and its refugee camp, and 200 from Tulkarm and its refugee camps."
For the past 49 days, the occupation army has continued its military operation in Jenin and its refugee camp, while operations have also been ongoing for 43 days in the Tulkarm refugee camp and 30 days in the Nur Shams refugee camp.
The statement also indicated that since October 7, 2023, the number of Palestinians detained in the West Bank has risen to 15,640, including 490 women (not counting women arrested from Gaza, whose numbers are estimated in the dozens).
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Mass Arrests as a Strategy to Offset Prisoner Releases
Observers note that these large-scale arrests appear to be part of an Israeli strategy to offset the number of Palestinian prisoners released under the recent ceasefire agreement between Hamas and the Israeli regime. In February, 1,377 Palestinian prisoners were freed as part of the negotiated truce. However, "Israel" has simultaneously escalated its mass detention campaigns in the West Bank, replenishing the number of imprisoned Palestinians and ensuring it maintains leverage for future negotiations.
"Israel" has historically used mass arrests as a tool of control, particularly after prisoner exchanges, to ensure that any concessions made during negotiations do not result in a net reduction of Palestinians in Israeli detention.
The surge in detentions following the ceasefire reflects this pattern, with hundreds of newly detained individuals effectively replacing those released in the prisoner swap.
Escalating Violence in the West Bank
Since the start of the war on Gaza, the IOF and settlers have intensified their assaults across the West Bank, including occupied Al-Quds, leading to the killing of approximately 930 Palestinians and the injury of nearly 7,000 others, according to official Palestinian sources.
The statement further added that since October 7, 2023, "Israel", with US support, has been committing mass killings in Gaza, resulting in over 160,000 Palestinians killed and wounded, most of them children and women, with more than 14,000 missing, amid widespread destruction.
