Israel detained 69 Palestinian children in occupied West Bank in July, NGOs say
Israeli soldiers detain a Palestinian boy during a demonstration in the occupied West Bank city of Bethlehem on Dec. 22, 2017. (Getty Images)


Israeli forces rounded up 520 Palestinians, 69 of whom were children, in raids carried out across the occupied West Bank last month, according to Palestinian NGOs on Monday.

"Sixty-nine minors and nine women were among those arrested," read a joint statement issued by the Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs, the Palestinian Prisoners Society, Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association, and Al Mezan Center for Human Rights.

According to the statement, Israeli forces detained five Palestinian journalists in the occupied territory last month.

The statement said 122 of the detainees were arrested in East Jerusalem, 100 in Ramallah and Al-Bireh in the central West Bank and 75 in Hebron, while the rest of detainees were rounded up in other areas across the occupied territory.

Israeli authorities issued 36 administrative detention orders, which allow suspects to be held without trial or charge for renewable six-month periods, last month, the statement said.

According to the joint statement, some 6,000 Palestinians are currently languishing in Israeli prisons, including 53 women and roughly 300 minors.