RAMALLAH: Several institutions concerned with detainees’ affairs in Israeli prisons reported today that more than 7,000 Palestinians have been detained in the West Bank since the start of the comprehensive Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people on October 7, 2023.
The Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs Commission, the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society (PPS), and the Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association said in a joint statement that the total number of women detainees amounted to about 220, including women who were detained from the 1948 territories. Over 440 children were also detained.
According to the joint statement, the occupation has detained 53 journalists, 36 of whom are still in detention, and has also placed 21 others under administrative detention.
Administrative detention orders amounted to more than 3,490 orders, including some against children and women. The orders ranged between new and renewed orders.
The statement indicated that the ongoing detention campaigns ar
e accompanied by escalating crimes and violations, including severe beatings and threats against detainees and their families, in addition to wide-scale sabotage and destruction campaigns of citizens’ homes and the seizure of vehicles, money and gold jewelry. The attacks also included extensive destruction operations that affected infrastructure, specifically in the Tulkarm and Nour Shams refugee camps as well as in Jenin and its refugee camp.
The statement explained that the outcome of the detention campaigns after October 7 included all those who were detained from their homes, at military checkpoints and those who were forced to surrender themselves under pressure, in addition to those who were taken hostage.
In addition to the detention campaigns, the occupation forces carried out field executions targeting members of the detainees’ families, according to the statement.
At least eight detainees were also killed in the occupation prisons after October 7, namely Omar Daraghmeh from Tubas, Arafat Hamdan f
rom Ramallah, Majid Zaqoul from Gaza, a fourth unidentified prisoner, Abd al-Rahman Mar’i from Salfit, Thaer Abu Assab from Qalqilya, Abdul-Rahman al-Bahsh from Nablus, and Mohammed al-Sabbar from Hebron, noting that the occupation media revealed data indicating the killing of other detainees from Gaza in the ‘Sde Teman’ camp in Beersheba.
To this day, the Israeli occupation refuses to reveal any information regarding the fate of Gaza detainees, said the statement, noting that the occupation admitted to executing one detainee, in addition to data indicating the execution of other detainees from Gaza.
The statement indicated that the data related to the detention cases included those still in custody, in addition to those who were later released.
The statement said that Israel refuses to this day to reveal any data on the number of detainees from Gaza, accusing it of committing the crime of enforced disappearance against them.
The total number of detainees in the occupation prisons until the end of January
exceeded 9,000 detainees, including 3,484 administrative detainees and 606 detainees from Gaza who were classified as ‘unlawful combatants’. These are the only numbers provided by the Israeli Prison Service (IPS).
Source: Palestine news and Information Agency – WAFA