RAMALLAH, Thursday, August 6, 2026 (WAFA) – The Palestinian Prisoner's Society (PPS) said that Israeli occupation forces have detained and conducted field interrogations with more than 60 residents of Qalandiya refugee camp, including children and women, during their ongoing military assault on the camp since Wednesday.
According to local sources cited by the PPS, the military operation is still underway, amid concerns that the number of detainees and people subjected to field questioning may continue to rise.
In a statement issued Thursday, the PPS said the widespread detention and field interrogation operations were accompanied by serious assaults and violations against residents, including severe beatings, the use of restraints as a means of torture and abuse, threats and intimidation, forcing residents to leave their homes, turning several homes into field interrogation centers, and acts of vandalism and destruction targeting residents’ homes and property.
The organization said Palestinian refugee camps have long been a major target of Israeli policies, but have witnessed an unprecedented escalation in attacks since the start of the war in Gaza, as part of what it described as the widest Israeli offensive in the West Bank since the Second Intifada. It said the escalation has included widespread destruction of infrastructure, forced displacement policies, and attempts to erase several refugee camps, in what it described as the largest displacement wave in the West Bank since 1967.
The PPS added that Israeli forces have carried out large-scale arrest and field interrogation operations during these incursions, in addition to field executions, according to the organization. It said thousands of Palestinians in West Bank refugee camps have been subjected to arrest or field questioning, targeting various segments of society, including women, children, elderly people, and the wounded and sick, as part of what it described as a policy of collective punishment aimed at dismantling the social fabric of the camps and intimidating residents.
The organization stressed that the situation in Qalandiya refugee camp is not an isolated incident, but rather an extension of a series of large-scale raids targeting Palestinian refugee camps and towns across the West Bank over the past three years. It said these operations have been marked by unprecedented levels of violence and destruction, alongside a rise in arbitrary arrests, field interrogations, and related violations.
The PPS said Israeli authorities continue to carry out widespread arrest campaigns across the West Bank, including occupied Jerusalem, alongside the ongoing war in Gaza. It stated that more than 25,600 Palestinians have been arrested in the West Bank since the start of the war, accompanied by widespread reports of torture, systematic abuse, and field executions targeting various sectors of Palestinian society.
The organization said that the policies and measures carried out by Israeli authorities and their various agencies, particularly mass arrests, field interrogations, torture, and field executions, constitute part of a broader assault against the Palestinian people and are directly linked to the ongoing war in Gaza.
It added that these policies are not new, but represent a longstanding practice carried out by Israel over decades. However, it said the period since the start of the war in Gaza has been marked by an unprecedented escalation in the scale, intensity, and severity of such actions, reflecting what it described as a more dangerous phase in targeting Palestinians and their presence.
K.T
