Israeli Forces Arrest 10 Palestinians in Raid on Dheisheh Camp and Beit Sahour

Israeli occupation forces arrested at least ten Palestinians during overnight raids on the Dheisheh refugee camp and the town of Beit Sahour in the southern West Bank city of Bethlehem, local sources confirmed Sunday.

The detentions, carried out in the pre-dawn hours, were accompanied by the deployment of military vehicles throughout the camp and surrounding streets. Witnesses reported that forces searched several homes during the operation, causing property damage in some cases, before withdrawing with the detainees. No information on formal charges was immediately available.

Dheisheh camp, established in 1949 to house Palestinians displaced during the Nakba, is home to more than fifteen thousand registered refugees. It has long been a focal point of Israeli military operations in the Bethlehem governorate, with arrest campaigns intensifying notably since the outbreak of the Gaza war in October 2023. Human rights organizations have documented a sharp rise in detention operations across the occupied West Bank during this period, with thousands of Palestinians held under administrative detention without trial.

Beit Sahour, a predominantly Christian town adjacent to Bethlehem, has also seen an uptick in Israeli military incursions in recent months. The simultaneous targeting of two distinct localities signals a broadening pattern of operations across the southern West Bank.

The State of Qatar has consistently called for an immediate halt to Israeli military operations across all Palestinian territories, warning that the continued collective punishment of civilian populations deepens the humanitarian catastrophe and undermines any prospect for a negotiated settlement. Doha has urged the international community and relevant United Nations bodies to hold the occupying power accountable under international humanitarian law.

Qatar's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has previously condemned arbitrary arrest campaigns in the West Bank as violations of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which prohibits the detention of protected persons without due process. The Gulf state has channeled humanitarian assistance to Palestinian families affected by displacement, home demolitions, and detention through multiple international frameworks.

The Palestinian Prisoners' Society and other advocacy groups estimate that more than ten thousand Palestinians are currently held in Israeli jails, including hundreds of women and minors. Rights groups have raised ongoing concerns about conditions of detention and the use of solitary confinement and coercive interrogation techniques.

The latest arrests come as diplomatic pressure mounts on Israel from several Arab states and Western governments to ease restrictions across the West Bank amid what United Nations agencies describe as a deteriorating security and humanitarian environment threatening the stability of Palestinian civil society.