Since the war broke out in October, Israeli forces and settlers have expanded their raids on Palestinians in the West Bank.

Israeli forces have arrested around 4,695 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank since the Gaza war broke out on 7 October, according to a report by the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club (PPC). 

Documented by the PPC and the Palestinian Authority’s Commission of Detainees’ and Ex-Detainees’ Affairs, Israeli forces and Jewish settlers have expanded their raids in the West Bank, assaulting and detaining Palestinians. 

Sources told the institutions that several accounts had been documented, like the case of Siham Abu Ayyash, a teacher, who was arrested after Israeli forces raided her home in Beit Ummar, a town near Hebron. 

“The sources said Abu Ayyash and her family were assaulted and that contents in her home were destroyed,” the PPC told The New Arab. 

“Her mobile phone and computer were confiscated, and she was taken to an unknown location, the sources added,” it added. 

A report by Al Jazeera highlighted that homes have been raided in the Jenin refugee camp, which is positioned in the north of the West Bank. 

“The Israeli army came down here and raided at least 10 houses. They said they were looking for Palestinians to arrest, but interestingly enough, they didn’t make any arrests,” an on-the-ground report stated. 

“Israeli forces did call for Palestinian fighters to come out and give themselves up but that didn’t happen either,” the report added.

“Residents are telling us that this is simply a campaign of harassment. Jenin refugee camp is now the most raided camp in the occupied West Bank. Israeli forces are destroying any symbol of resistance or nationalism in the camp,” the report continued. 

As of last week, 291 Palestinians, including 75 children, have been killed in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, per reports. 

2023 has been the deadliest for Palestinians in the West Bank since the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) started recording casualties in 2005, topping the murder toll of last year, which held record casualties. 

Gaza’s Health Ministry has said that Israel’s indiscriminate war on Gaza has so far killed more than 20,400 people.