11,900+ Palestinians detained in West Bank since October 2023

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
1 Dec 2024 10:02
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Israeli occupation forces continue to cram Palestinians in the occupied West Bank into detention centers and prisons.

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Israeli soldiers arrest a blindfolded Palestinian during an army raid in Tubas, West Bank, on Wednesday, September 11, 2024. (AP)

Israeli occupation forces have detained at least 16 Palestinians overnight in the occupied West Bank, including former detainees, as part of a continued series of military raids and detentions across the region.

The arrests took place in various towns throughout the northern and southern West Bank, such as Qalqilya, Nablus, al-Khalil, Tulkarm, and al-Quds. Several of those detained had previously been incarcerated by Israeli authorities.

A joint statement from the Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoners' Society reported that the detainees were subjected to violent raids, threats, and significant damage to their homes. Since the start of the ongoing genocide in Gaza, which has intensified in recent months, over 11,900 Palestinians, including those from al-Quds, have been detained in the West Bank.

While these figures are shocking, they exclude data from Gaza itself, where Israeli authorities have withheld detailed information. Reports estimate that around 4,500 Palestinians have been detained in Gaza during the same period.

IOF detain four schoolchildren in al-Mughayer, northeast of Ramallah

Israeli occupation forces also detained four schoolchildren early Sunday morning in the village of al-Mughayer, northeast of Ramallah.

Local sources reported as cited by WAFA that Israeli soldiers conducted raids on several homes in the village, arresting the four children: Rabah Raed Bishara, Alaa Abdulhamid Abu Elaya, Rashed Dherar Na’san, and Muslim Abdel Latif Abu Elaya. The children were taken after soldiers ransacked their homes and damaged personal belongings.

Al-Mughayer has been enduring a week-long campaign of raids, detentions, house demolitions, and harsh military measures. Recently, Israeli forces seized one of the village’s homes for over 30 hours, using it as a field interrogation center.

Dive deeper

A surge in administrative detention orders has accompanied mass arrests, with over 10,000 issued since October 2023. Administrative detention, a controversial practice allowing individuals to be detained without charge or trial, has been applied to women and children as well, sparking widespread condemnation from human rights advocates.

Detention campaigns have reportedly been marked by severe violations, including physical abuse, humiliation, and threats directed at detainees and their families. In many cases, detainees' homes have been vandalized, valuables such as vehicles and money confiscated, and infrastructure in refugee camps, particularly in Jenin and Tulkarem, systematically destroyed.

There have also been accusations of field executions carried out by Israeli forces, adding to the brutality of these operations.

Palestinian detainees suffer under scabies outbreak in Israeli jails

A recent investigation has revealed that a quarter of Palestinian detainees in Israeli prisons and detention centers have contracted scabies in recent months. The outbreak is attributed to poor sanitary conditions, insufficient ventilation, and a lack of basic necessities, stemming from systemic medical negligence by Israeli authorities.

The Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported on the findings, which stemmed from a petition filed by human rights organizations and included data from the Israeli occupation's Prison Service. According to the IPS, 2,874 prisoners have been infected with scabies over the past year, with 1,704 cases still active.

Scabies, a contagious skin condition caused by mites that burrow under the skin to lay eggs, leads to rashes, severe irritation, and other complications.

Physicians for Human Rights (PHR), a US-based rights organization, highlighted that detainees lack access to washing machines and sufficient clothing. “Current data reveals that 430 prisoners in Ramon and Nafha prisons are battling the condition, alongside 596 in Megiddo and 566 in the Ketziot prison facility. Additionally, dozens of cases have been reported in Ofer detention center and other detention centers," the group noted.

The IPS confirmed that the outbreak has disrupted the legal processes for affected detainees, with meetings between lawyers and detainees in Nafha and Ramon prisons postponed and court hearings canceled.

Palestinian detainees stress that their suffering is deliberate. “When we asked for treatment, they told us that we are terrorists and must die,” one Palestinian detainee said as quoted by Haaretz.

Ameena Altaweel, a researcher with the Palestine Center for Prisoner Studies, emphasized that Palestinian human rights organizations have long raised concerns about scabies outbreaks in Israeli detention facilities. She attributed the spread of the disease to overcrowding and highlighted that Israeli authorities deliberately exacerbate the situation by failing to isolate infected detainees and withholding treatment.

Racist policies

The head of the Commission of Detainees’ Affairs Qaddura Fares has lately issued a statement criticizing the Israeli regime's recent decision to cancel the policy of administrative detention for Israeli settlers.

"Israel is a fascist racist state, established on hatred and organized crime, that threatens human and social values with its extremist policies. The world’s silence towards the killing and destruction of the Palestinian people, and the torture and abuse of its detainees will eventually find itself facing a regime of Zionist gangs that threatens the global and human stability," Fares said.

Fares criticized Israeli Security Minister Israel Katz for removing the "symbolic restrictions" imposed on settlers through administrative detention.

This decision, justified under claims of protecting settlements from alleged Palestinian threats, was supported by fascist Israeli figures like Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who described it as a "correction of an injustice," and Deputy Abraham Boroun, who hailed it as an act of "support for settlers."