DUBAI, April 18. /TASS/. Israeli security forces are holding 9,500 Palestinians captive, the Qatar-based Al Jazeera TV channel reported.

At least 9,500 Palestinians from the occupied West Bank are being held captive, which is significantly more than the estimated 5,200 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons before October 7, 2023, the channel pointed out. Many are held under "administrative detention," meaning the Israeli authorities are holding them indefinitely without any charges, evidence or trial. Those arrested say conditions in Israeli prisons are harsh, and detainees are not treated well, Al Jazeera noted.

Tensions flared up in the Middle East on October 7, 2023, when militants from the Gaza Strip-based radical Palestinian movement Hamas staged a surprise attack on Israeli territory from Gaza, killing residents of Israeli border settlements and taking over 240 hostages, including women, children and the elderly.

Hamas described its attack as a response to the aggressive actions of Israeli authorities against the Al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem’s Old City.

Israel announced a total blockade of the Gaza Strip and has been delivering rocket attacks on Gaza as well as some districts in Lebanon and Syria, and then started a ground operation in the enclave. Clashes are also taking place in the West Bank.