IOF arrest 10,700+ Palestinians in West Bank since Oct. 7: PPS
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The Israeli occupation forces have detained over 10,000 Palestinians, excluding those arrested from the Gaza Strip, since October 7.
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A protester carries a poster that reads "to the free people of the world, Gaza is being exterminated," in front of a poster of Marwan Barghouti, the highest profile Palestinian prisoner held by 'Israel', Ramallah, Aug. 3, 2024. (AP)
More than 10,700 Palestinians have been arrested in the occupied West Bank since October 7, the Palestinian Prisoner Society revealed, noting that the number excludes the thousands arrested from the Gaza Strip.
Earlier, a joint statement issued by 31 organizations, including Save the Children, Human Rights Watch, and Oxfam, urged the international community to implement measures that would establish a critical protective presence and ensure that both children and adults in detention are treated with dignity and in accordance with international humanitarian and human rights law.
"This includes demanding that the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is granted immediate and unfettered access to all detainees and hostages, to the full extent required by international humanitarian law," the statement stressed.
The organizations also demanded the immediate and unconditional release of Palestinian children arbitrarily detained by the Israeli occupation military.
UN 'deeply concerned' by reports of sexual violence in Israeli prisons
The UN Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict Pramila Patten voiced on Monday "serious concerns" over reports of rape and other forms of sexual violence against Palestinian detainees in Israeli custody, condemning the normalization of such acts as “unacceptable".
In a statement, Pramila Patten expressed alarm following recent United Nations reports, particularly from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), which indicate a worrying decline in the treatment of Palestinian men, women, and children held in Israeli custody since October 7, 2023.
"Sexual violence and sexualized torture in any form and in any context, and particularly in detention settings, is unacceptable. Such abhorrent acts not only constitute a grave violation of human rights and human dignity but they also undermine efforts towards peace and stability in the region," Patten underlined.
She pointed to disturbing reports of sexual violence and other inhumane and degrading treatment of Palestinian men and women, potentially amounting to "sexualized torture".
