Israel has arrested over 60 members of Hamas, a militant group, including a spokesperson, during overnight raids in the West Bank. The West Bank is an area that Israel occupies and is being greatly affected by the ongoing conflict in Gaza.
In a military operation by Israel in the Nour Shams refugee camp in Tulkarem city, some Palestinians were killed, as confirmed by the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
The security agency of Israel, Shin Bet, has confirmed to CNN that they arrested Hassan Yousef, who is the spokesperson, because they suspect that he was acting on behalf of Hamas.
“The occupation forces have arrested Sheikh Hassan Yousef, a leader of Hamas, from his home in Beitunia. This is part of a large-scale arrest campaign in the occupied West Bank,” says the statement from the Palestinian Prisoners Club.
Yousef was arrested multiple times by Israeli forces. He has spent a total of 24 years in Israeli jails for different reasons, like encouraging violence, going into Jerusalem without permission, and being a member of Hamas.
He has been frequently appearing on international media recently. This week, he spoke to Canadian news outlet The Globe and Mail and said that he believes Hamas would be willing to release around 200 hostages if Israel agrees to a day-long ceasefire to allow aid to enter Gaza.
The Israeli military said that Israeli security forces carried out an operation.
The statement said that many people who were wanted by the authorities were arrested in the West Bank, including a large number of Hamas members.
According to the Palestinian Prisoners Club, 850 Palestinians have been arrested in the West Bank since Hamas attacked Israel on October 7. The people mentioned are lawmakers, important people, journalists, and former prisoners who have spent a long time in Israeli jails.
Mustafa Barghouti, who is in charge of the Palestinian National Initiative, told CNN that Israel is conducting a big operation to arrest a lot of Palestinians.
They are catching and taking more people into custody every night. There are currently 6,300 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, according to Barghouti. “They are not accused of a crime, and they do not have to go to court. ” There is no fair legal process, and this is called administrative detention. This includes at least 200 children who are currently in Israeli jails.
The Israeli government is taking strong action because the violence from the Gaza conflict has started to affect the West Bank.
Israeli forces killed several Palestinians during clashes in the West Bank on Thursday, as reported by the Palestinian Authority’s Ministry of Health. The government told CNN that they have confirmed the deaths of six people, and they expect the number of deaths to increase. Fights have happened between Palestinians and Israeli soldiers at many places.
The Palestinian Red Crescent said their workers were trying to help the injured people in Nour Shams. They mentioned that it was hard to reach some of the injured individuals, and that ambulances with injured people were being stopped by Israeli occupation forces.
CNN has asked the IDF to react to this claim.
Israel gained control of the West Bank in 1967 after the Six Day War with Jordan. Since then, Israeli civilians have moved to live in parts of the West Bank and have been protected by the Israeli military. The people who live there hope that the West Bank will be part of a future Palestinian state.
Many countries believe that these settlements are against the law worldwide, but even so, Israeli governments have promised to support them.
Israel sees the West Bank as an area where there is a disagreement, and it believes that its policy to build settlements there is allowed by the law.