Israel arrests dozens in raids across the West Bank

Israeli forces arrested 27 people in the occupied West Bank early on Monday, Palestinian media have reported.

The arrests were made in various parts of the West Bank including the Jericho province, where eight people were detained, and in Jenin, where two were detained, the Asra (Detainees') Media Office said. 

Israel currently holds over 4,000 Palestinians in detention, according to human rights groups. Around 500 Palestinians are held in "administrative detention", without charge or trial for renewable periods of up to six months.

Last month the European Union called on Israel to end the practice of "administrative detention".

Palestinians from towns and villages near Hebron, Bethlehem, Ramallah and Jerusalem were also detained in the early morning raids.

The Israeli army has not commented on the reasons for the raids.

In the town of Sa'ir, east of Hebron, a man named Ahmed Shalalda was reportedly re-arrested just two weeks after being released.

Israeli forces also raided the halls of residence of the  Arab American University in Jenin, the Asra Media Office said.

In the town of Qatana near Jenin, the Israeli army violently detained two young men, smashing up their car and leaving traces of their blood on the ground following the arrests.

On Tuesday Amnesty International released a damning report saying that Israel had institutionalised "systematic" abuse against the Palestinians on a level amounting to the "crime of apartheid".

Many Palestinians held in administrative detention have gone on extended hunger strikes in protest, with Hisham Abu Hawash spending 141 days without food and approaching death before Israel agreed to release him early in January.