Israel arrests two sisters of slain Hamas deputy chief Saleh al-Arouri

Israeli forces on Saturday arrested Dalal and Fatima al-Arouri, sisters of Saleh al-Arouri, the Hamas deputy chief who was assassinated in Beirut earlier this month.

The Palestinian Prisoners Society (PPS) told Anadolu Agency that the arrests took place after searches in Ramallah Governorate and the city of Al-Bireh in the central West Bank on Saturday night.

The PPS added that Dalal was taken from her home in Arura, northwest of Ramallah, and Fatima from her residence in Al-Bireh’s Al-Shorfa neighbourhood.

Israeli media reported that the women were detained on charges of "inciting terror against the state of Israel".

The Israeli army also arrested 15 workers, originally from Gaza and residing in the West Bank. These arrests occurred in the Biddya municipality building following their expulsion from their workplaces after October 7.

Israel's operations in the West Bank have escalated since the start of the Gaza war, killing 347 Palestinians and injuring 4,000, including 593 children, as per the Palestinian Ministry of Health.

Prisoner affairs institutions report that about 5,850 Palestinians have been arrested since October 7.

In Gaza, Palestinian health authorities say that at least 23,843 Palestinians, predominantly women and children, have been killed and 60,317 injured in the same period.

The UN reports that 85% of Gaza's population is now internally displaced, facing severe shortages of food, clean water, and medicine, with 60% of the region’s infrastructure damaged or destroyed.