The Palestinian Prisoner's Society (PSS) has reported that in the first five days of 2017, Israel carried out a campaign of arrests, detaining at least 100 Palestinians including 18 minors and three women. The raids and subsequent arrests took place in cities across the West Bank, including Hebron, Jerusalem, Nablus and Bethlehem.Among those arrested was Ahmad Khaddour, a 16-year-old boy suffering from blood cancer, according to PSS.
Since then, there has been little respite, with raids and arrests continuing at a near-nightly rate. A further six Palestinians, including two former prisoners, Mos’ab Siyaj and Bilal Sawafta, were arrested on Thursday morning from Tubas, Hebron, Kufr Qaddoum and Bethlehem.
On Sunday the 8th, at least five relatives of Fadi Ahmad Hamdan al-Qunbar were detained. Al Qunbar, 28, was killed a day prior by Israeli forces and armed civilians after he drove his truck into a group of soldiers in Jerusalem, killing four Israeli soldiers and wounding 13 others.
A joint report was issued on the 1st of January by the Palestinian Prisoners’ Society, Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association and Al-Mezan Center for Human Rights to summarise the events of 2016. They estimated that 6440 Palestinians were arrested throughout the course of the year. This includes 1332 children and 164 women, corresponding to an approximate total of 7,000 current Palestinian prisoners including 300 minors, 53 women, 700 administrative detainees and 22 journalists. The prisoner’s rights group Addameer estimates that 40 percent of Palestinian men have been detained by Israel at some point in their lives. 
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