A wave of arrests targeting women in Qalqilya has drawn concern from Palestinian advocacy groups, after at least 15 women were detained during overnight raids. According to the Palestinian Prisoner Society, many of those taken are relatives of prisoners or individuals killed in the ongoing genocidal war, a pattern campaigners say reflects a broader strategy of pressure on families.

The arrests come amid sustained restrictions on detainees’ access to legal representation and family contact. Lawyers have reportedly been prevented from visiting prisoners since the escalation began, while families remain barred from seeing their relatives. The International Committee of the Red Cross has also been unable to conduct its regular prison visits, raising concerns among rights groups about the lack of independent oversight and the conditions inside detention facilities.

Described by observers as unusually wide in scope, the operation forms part of a broader trend affecting Palestinian women across the occupied territories. Advocacy organisations report that hundreds have been subjected to arrest or field interrogation in the West Bank since the beginning of the genocidal war, with additional detentions recorded in Gaza. Many are held without formal charges under administrative detention or face allegations linked to online activity, in what critics characterise as an expanding campaign targeting women within Palestinian society.