IOF raid 'Megiddo' Prison, isolate 40 Palestinian prisoners

• 

The Israeli occupation's suppression forces barged on Friday dawn into "Megiddo" Prison, forcefully taking 40 prisoners out of their designated cells and isolating them.

The Israeli occupation's Prison Service, or the Shabas, raided several blocs in "Megiddo" Prison and used tear gas against Palestinian prisoners before isolating 40 of them, said the Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs in a brief statement following the incident.

"The occupation's prison administration transferred all Palestinian Islamic Jihad prisoners in bloc 9 in Megiddo Prison to cells under the pretext that they were celebrating the operation that took place in Al-Quds" on Friday evening, Muhjat Al-Quds Association said.

The Israeli occupation's violations against Palestinian prisoners come in light of the large-scale transfers of prisoners that the IOF has been carrying out against Palestinian prisoners in a bid to further stifle the Captive Movement.

It is expected that these actions will affect several other prisons and may continue through March.

The Israeli occupation is notorious for vandalizing prisoners' property during these operations, destroying anything they lay their eyes upon, including the jail canteen.

The Palestinian Prisoners Information Office said on Sunday that the Israeli occupation forces transferred 70 Palestinian prisoners from "Ramon" Prison to Gilboa Prison.

The Ministry of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs in Gaza commented on the uptick in transfers being conducted by the Israeli occupation, saying they were aimed at undermining the stability that Palestinian prisoners have, calling it an attempt to increase the occupation's influence and control over the Palestinian Captive Movement.

"These transfers have drastically increased since Operation Freedom Tunnel in 2021, and their frequency has increased even more since Bin-Gvir took over the Police Ministry in the occupation's government," the Ministry said.

The Waed Prisoners Association revealed that the transfers would include around 2,000 Palestinian prisoners who will be spread out over various prisons within a month. "This is part of a Zionist plan that Ben-Gvir contributed to the expedition and implementation of in record time."

Waed proceeded to call on the International Committee of the Red Cross to intervene and guarantee that the prisoners' lives are not harmed, asking the ICRC to increase its effort in light of the dangers that the prisoners are being exposed to.

This comes after the Israeli occupation forces earlier in January Al-Naqab prison and assaulted various Palestinian prisoners, Palestinian sources reported.

The Palestinian Captive Movement noted at the time that the transfer came about a week after the transfer of 80 prisoners from "Hadarim" prison to "Nafha" prison, during which special forces carried out extensive searches and destruction of the prisoners' belongings.

It is worth noting that 4,700 Palestinian prisoners were still in Israeli occupation prisons by the end of 2022, including 29 women and 150 children, and about 850 administrative detainees, including 7 children, two female prisoners, 5 deputies in the Palestinian Legislative Council, and 15 journalists.

Among the Palestinian prisoners, 330 have been detained for more than 20 years, 25 before the signing of the so-called "Oslo Accords" in 1993, and 552 prisoners have been sentenced to life imprisonment.