World Bulletin/News Desk

The Israeli army detained 597 Palestinians from the West Bank and Jerusalem over the course of August, a local NGO said Saturday.

Most of the detentions were carried out in Hebron, Jerusalem, Ramallah, Jenin and Bethlehem, the Palestinian Prisoners Society said in a statement.

At least 190 Palestinian residents of Jerusalem were apprehended by the Israeli forces in August. A total of 102 others were detained in Hebron.

Among the detainees are two females from Jerusalem and Ramallah, the statement noted.

This brought up the number of Palestinians detained since mid-June by Israel to over 2,000, which raised the overall number of Palestinians held by Israel to over 7,000, it said.

Israeli forces have arrested hundreds of West Bank Palestinians since the disappearance and subsequent killing of three Jewish settlers in mid-June.

Since then, the Israeli authorities have been launching a restless campaign of detention in the occupied territory.

Several Hamas lawmakers as well as dozens of ex-detainees who had been released as part of a 2011 prisoner swap between Hamas and Israel were detained as part of the campaign.