10,500 arrests during 2023, including 1000 children: PPC

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Palestinian Prisoners Center for Studies
1 Jan 2024 15:43
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The Palestinian Prisoners Center for Studies documents the Israeli occupation's attacks and human rights violations against detained Palestinians in Israeli prisons.

Israeli prison guards “Ofer” prison, occupied al-Quds, Thursday, September 9, 2021. (AP)

The Palestinian Prisoners Center for Studies reported a dramatic rise in "Israel's" detention of Palestinians after Operation Al-Aqsa Flood.

The center recorded 10,500 instances of detention since the start of 2023, including 265 females, both women and girls not to mention 1,000 minors.

The center clarified, in a statement issued on Monday that approximately half of the detention cases were recorded in the occupied West Bank and Al-Quds after October 7 and until the end of 2023.

Moreover, there were three thousand instances of Palestinians being detained in Gaza following the ground invasion, along with numerous field executions of detainees and the arrest of several wounded individuals.

#Palestinian civilians were found dead in a school where they had taken shelter from Israeli strikes, but the Israeli soldiers followed them there and shot them dead, execution style.#Gaza #GazaUnderAttack #Palestine pic.twitter.com/VTp1TLaPNy
— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) December 14, 2023

The Israeli occupation conducted an abduction campaign for #Palestinian men in #UN shelters, the men were stripped in the streets in the cold, and these men were taken to unknown locations.

The Chairman of the EuroMed Human Rights Monitor Rami Abdu also reported mass… pic.twitter.com/6aiXOktCtY
— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) December 7, 2023

The total number of detentions in al-Quds in 2023 reached approximately 2,850 cases, including 477 children. Additionally, there were 2,000 cases of arrest in al-Khalil, as per the center.

In further detail, the center reported that the Israeli occupation detained more than 60 journalists and 17 members of the Legislative Council.

A wave of arrests spared no one in Gaza

The center affirmed that among those detained from the Gaza Strip during the Israeli invasion were women, children, patients, the elderly, journalists, and healthcare workers, who were detained after homes, UN schools-turned-shelters, UNRWA facilities, hospitals, and clinics were raided by Israeli troops.

The center accused the occupation of carrying out dozens of field executions of civilians who were detained from homes, schools, and hospitals. They were subjected to humiliation, field interrogation, gunfire, and cold-blooded killing in front of their children and women, constituting a clear war crime. Subsequently, hundreds of detainees were transferred to interrogation centers within "Israel", where they were subjected to internationally prohibited forms of torture.

Around 100 healthcare professionals from the Gaza Strip were detained following raids on al-Shifa, al-Awda, and Kamal Adwan hospitals, as well as inside ambulances, as per the statement.

Prominent figures included hospital directors Dr. Mohammad Abu Salmiya, Dr. Ahmad al-Kahlout, and Dr. Ahmed Mahna. Several paramedics were also detained while transferring the wounded to medical centers or the Rafah Crossing.

The plight of Palestinian women arrested in Gaza

The center highlighted in its statement that around 265 women and girls from the West Bank and al-Quds, in addition to more than 60 women from Gaza, were detained after October 7.

While some were released, the majority were subjected to harsh interrogations, it stressed.

Minors, university students, elderly individuals, mothers, and sisters of prisoners and martyrs were among those detained. Occupation authorities primarily charged them with incitement, particularly after October 7. It's worth mentioning that Khalida Jarrar, a released prisoner and deputy, is also among the detainees.

Despite the release of 71 female prisoners in the recent exchange deal between the Resistance and the occupation, more than 85 female prisoners are still held in "Damon" prison and others, with over half of them from Gaza.

Female prisoners endure extremely harsh detention conditions, suffering from deteriorating health conditions not to mention being subjected to medical negligence. The prison administration deliberately isolated female prisoners from Gaza from those in the occupied West Bank and the occupied territories, preventing communication. It is worth noting that Gaza's female prisoners face more severe detention conditions, intensified abuse, and mistreatment, as per the statement.

243 Palestinian prisoners killed in 2023

In 2023, there was a significant increase in the number of martyrs within Israeli prisons, totaling 243, according to the statement.

The last 10 martyrs are Wadih Aziz Abu Ramuz, a 16-year-old from al-Quds, Ahmed Badr Abu Ali from al-Khalil, Mahmoud Jamal Hamdan from Aqabat Jaber camp in Areeha, who was martyred shortly after being arrested while injured, Khader Adnan Musa from Jenin, who intentionally endured isolation in his cell despite being on a hunger strike for 85 days, Omar Draghmeh (58 years old) from Tubas, who was martyred during torture, Arafat Hamdan (25 years old) from Ramallah, who died in "Ofer" Prison two days after being detained, due to torture, Majed Zaqoul (32 years old) from Gaza, who was killed in "Ofer" Prison due to torture after being arrested post-October 7, Abdul Rahman Murray (33 years old) from Salfit, who was killed in 'Megiddo' prison, and Thaer Abu Assab (38 years old) from Qalqilya, was killed after being transferred from Israeli Naqab prison to "Soroka" Medical Center.

Also among the martyrs is Thaer Abu Assab, who had been imprisoned since 2005, serving a 25-year sentence. He succumbed to assaults and beatings by special units in Naqab prison. Additionally, an unnamed Gaza worker in the "Erez" camp is among the martyrs, and his identity remains undisclosed.