Israeli forces overnight and early Thursday morning detained 26 Palestinians throughout the West Bank amid an ongoing crackdown in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
An Israeli army spokesperson told Ma'an News Agency that all 26 were detained for "illegal activity."
Of those detained, eight were from areas surrounding Nablus, four detained near Ramallah, five around Bethlehem, and nine from areas near Hebron.
The majority of arrests have occurred during protests that have consumed the West Bank and East Jerusalem over the last few weeks, following Israel’s restriction of access to the Al Aqsa mosque for Muslims.
As the violent clashes around the West Bank and East Jerusalem show no sign of slowing down, Palestinians are increasingly vulnerable to arrest and detention.
Statistics from prisoner support and human rights organisation, Addameer, show that since the Oct 1. and until Thursday afternoon, 570 Palestinians including 83 children were arrested by Israeli security forces in East Jerusalem, the West Bank and across the Green Line .
“The number of arrests are definitely higher than usual,” said Rafat Laban from Addameer. “And in terms of child detention, it is also quite high.”
According to the UN office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, October has seen a record number of detentions since June 2014.