Palestinian sources said that three Palestinians were arrested in Nablus, one in Ramallah, six in the Bethlehem area and one in Hebron. They added that all were arrested after meticulous house search operations.

Israeli security sources told the Army Radio that the detainees were wanted by the Israeli intelligence agency Shin Bet and were taken to unknown locations for questioning.

The Israeli defense establishment says the arrest campaigns in Palestinian cities are part of its war against Palestinian armed groups.

The Palestinian Authority (PA) says that the daily Israeli raids hinder its own security efforts to tighten their grip on the Palestinian territories.

Israel does not allow the PA to have any security role in specific areas in the West Bank that are classified as C areas by the 1993 Oslo peace agreement between the two sides.

According to recent Palestinian statistics, there are 7,500 Palestinians, including 270 under the age of 18, currently held in 10 prisons and three detention camps in Israel and the West Bank.

There are also three prisoners who have been in jail for more than 30 years, and 315 prisoners held for more than 15 years.

Egypt and Germany mediated several rounds of talks between Hamas and the Israeli government in late 2009 to discuss the release of kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.

The mediators failed to broker a deal because Hamas presented a list of 1,000 names of Palestinian and Arab prisoners and insisted that Israel free them, while the Israeli government wanted to remove some of the names from the list.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is facing increasing pressure from Shalit’s family, Israeli academics and public figures to step up negotiations for his release.

Gilad’s father Noam Shalit called on Netanyahu to “stop abusing” his son.

“A captive soldier is not a piece of real estate whose price is determined according to supply and demand,” Noam said during a rally in the Israeli town of Rishon Lezion.