Occupation forces arrested 16 Palestinians during a series of pre dawn raids across the occupied West Bank on Friday, according to the Palestinian Prisoners’ Media Office. The arrests followed coordinated incursions into several cities including Ramallah, Hebron, Jenin, Nablus, Bethlehem and Jericho, where soldiers stormed homes, searched properties and detained residents.

Palestinian organisations say the arrests form part of a wider policy of mass detention carried out by the occupation authorities against Palestinians across the territory. The campaign frequently targets a broad range of people including former prisoners, activists and young men. Such raids often take place during the hours of suhoor and the dawn prayer in Ramadan, when military units enter neighbourhoods without warning and conduct field interrogations.

The raids come amid a broader escalation in the West Bank since the beginning of the war on Gaza in October 2023. Palestinian figures indicate that more than 1,100 Palestinians have been killed, around 11,700 injured and nearly 22,000 arrested during this period. Pro Palestine activists warn that the ongoing crackdown, alongside settlement expansion and home demolitions, reflects an intensifying effort by the occupation to tighten control over Palestinian land in the occupied West Bank.