Israel rounds up 22 Palestinians in West Bank raids

Israeli forces detained 22 Palestinians in overnight raids in the occupied West Bank.

The Palestinians were arrested for "suspected involvement in terrorist activities and violent disorder directed at Israeli targets", the army claimed in a Tuesday statement.

"The suspects were turned over to security agencies for further investigation," it added.

The Palestinian Prisoners Society, for its part, said that Israeli forces had arrested nine Palestinians from the northern West Bank cities of Nablus, Jenin and Salfit.

"Eleven others were arrested from the southern and central West Bank cities of Ramallah, Hebron and Bethlehem," the NGO said in a statement.

"Two others were arrested in occupied East Jerusalem," it added.

According to official Palestinian figures, some 6,500 Palestinians are currently held in Israeli prisons, including 62 women and about 350 minors.

Some 500 of these are under what Israel calls "administrative detention" in which they face neither trial nor charge.

Six members of the Palestinian Legislative Council also remain in Israeli custody.

The Israeli army frequently carries out sweeping arrest campaigns across the occupied West Bank on the pretext of searching for "wanted" Palestinians.