'Israel' arrested 9,170 Palestinians in West Bank since October 7
4 Min Read
The Israeli occupation forces have so far arrested over 9,000 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank since the start of the aggression on Gaza.
-
After being blindfolded, a Palestinian man is detained by Israeli forces during a raid in the West Bank city of Jenin, occupied Palestine, May 23, 2024. (AP)
Israeli occupation forces have detained 9,170 Palestinians from the West Bank since the start of the war on Gaza on October 7, the Palestinian Prisoners' Society said Wednesday.
The organization highlighted that Israeli authorities have intensified their arrest campaigns against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, with the stark figure excluding the thousands of others detained from Gaza suffering under concentration camp-like conditions.
"Israeli occupation authorities, after 250 days of the genocidal war, continue to escalate systematic arrest campaigns that have targeted more than 9,170 detainees from the West Bank, including [al-Quds], in addition to thousands from Gaza," it said in a statement.
The organization reported that at least 18 prisoners have died in Israeli custody, with estimates suggesting that dozens more from Gaza have also met a similar fate due to the Israeli occupation's brutality. An investigative report from the Israeli authorities acknowledged that 36 Gaza detainees have been killed, but their identities and the circumstances of their deaths remain undisclosed.
The Palestinian Prisoners' Society also revealed that 310 women and at least 640 children are among those detained. Approximately 85 journalists have also been detained, with 52 still in detention, including 14 from Gaza.
The report specified that six female journalists are either under administrative detention or facing charges of incitement, both of which can see them stay behind bars for years to come.
Gaza detainees severely abused
Administrative detention, which is authorized as a military order used against those suspected of "terrorism", a charge that needs no tangible evidence, allows for imprisonment without charge for up to six months, with the possibility of indefinite renewal. There have been about 6,627 such orders issued, the PPS said.
The organization stressed the significant challenges facing human rights groups, particularly the enforced disappearances of detainees from Gaza and the prohibition of Red Cross visits to assess their conditions.
Check out: Israeli soldiers beat two Palestinian detainees from Gaza to death
"The issue of Gaza detainees is currently the main challenge for human rights organizations, especially with the continued practice of enforced disappearance by the occupation against the majority of detainees from Gaza and its refusal to allow the International Committee of the Red Cross to visit them and check their detention conditions," the statement stressed.
"The spread of skin diseases among detainees has emerged, particularly scabies, due to the lack of hygiene conditions, especially since the prison administration withdrew clothing and left each detainee with only one set of clothes, adopting a policy of overcrowding," the NGO added.
Gaza detainees disappearing into unknown
The Palestinian Ministry of Detainees and ex-Detainees Affairs in Gaza warned that the vast majority of Palestinians detained from the Strip during the war by Israeli forces "disappear into the unknown" within the occupation's prisons, camps, and detention centers.
In a press statement last month, the Ministry confirmed that the detainees are held in secret detention centers, such as the infamous Sde Teman detention center in the occupied Negev, where they are subjected to brutal and severe abuse and systematic torture, especially at the beginning of their detention.
It added that Israeli security agencies conduct investigation sessions using various forms of torture in order to "extract confessions and information by any means necessary."
Meanwhile, the Israeli occupation refuses to engage with any institution or entity, especially the International Committee of the Red Cross, requesting information or visits to any detainee.
The interrogation of a large number of detainees has been concluded, but the occupation still refuses to release them, the statement continued.
