Israeli army chief boasts about detaining 1,500 Palestinians since March

The Chief of Staff of the Israeli army said on Tuesday that his forces have killed dozens of Palestinians and detained 1,500 more since March.

Aviv Kochav said in a speech that the army "has been waging war in the West Bank, over the past seven months" and claimed that they had "thwarted hundreds of operations."

He made his remarks during a ceremony commemorating the killing of the soldiers of the Kfir unit, which mainly includes Haredi Jewish soldiers serving in the occupied West Bank.

On Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid and security minister Benny Gantz announced that they will continue to hunt down members of the Lion's Den group, and that "their fate will be either prison or the grave."

The Lion's Den group, or "Areen al-Ossoud" in Arabic is a  group of fighters that operates in the occupied West Bank, protecting Palestinians and their property from frequent attacks by Israeli settlers and soldiers.

They have in recent weeks increased confrontations with the Israeli army. 

In recent weeks, a group of young Palestinian fighters - some affiliated with groups such as Fatah, Hamas and Islamic Jihad - have launched attacks on Israeli settlers from Nablus.

The Lion's Den claimed responsibility for a deadly attack on an Israeli soldier two weeks ago in the occupied West Bank.

The group emerged to resist the latest Israeli raids and is not affiliated with existing Palestinian factions.

On Monday, six Palestinians were killed in raids by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank. Palestinians launched protests and a general strike in response.

Violence has increased in recent months in the northern West Bank, the Palestinian territory illegally occupied since 1967 by Israel, especially in the areas of Nablus and Jenin.

More than 100 Palestinians have been killed since the start of the year, the heaviest toll in the West Bank for nearly seven years, according to the United Nations.