While Israel continues its siege on Gaza’s 2.3 million Palestinians and has left the world helplessly witness the gruesome scenes of a televised genocide since last six weeks, 3 million Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, have been living in stifling conditions among more than half a million Jewish settlers.
Since 7 October, there has been an escalation of Israeli Army’s killings, settler violence, arrests and repression.
Amnesty International and the Palestinian Prisoners Society representing prisoners held by Israel, said more than 2,800 Palestinians were arrested in the West Bank and East Jerusalem since October 7.
Palestinian detainees and officials say that prisoners were increasingly facing physical assaults and humiliating treatment in Israeli detention facilities after the mass arrests.
Last night alone, more than 40 Palestinians were arrested from the West Bank according to reports. Detention campaigns were accompanied by torture, house vandalism and death threats to detainees and their families.
Responding to the statements, Israel Prison Service said that it was using administrative detention, a form of incarceration without charge or trial, and tougher imprisonment conditions for Palestinian political prisoners “as part of the war effort.”
As confirmed by Qadura Fares, head of the Palestinian Authority Commission for Prisoners’ Affairs, the number of Palestinians held by Israel has risen to more than 7,800, including 300 children and 72 women, and this does not include prisoners from Gaza, which Israel repeatedly refuses to disclose.
The autopsy reports of Palestinian prisoners who have been killed in Israeli custody in recent weeks showed they were tortured or medically neglected. Hundreds of prisoners severely wounded and injured after being continuously tortured, are yet to receive any aid with their limbs and ribs broken and their bodies bruised.
Prisons of the occupation authority are overseen by far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who has been loudly advocating for a brutal crackdown on prisoners.
In a video posted by Ben-Gvir on Tuesday, he said “Palestinian militants were held in the strictest conditions and where the Israeli national anthem would play on loudspeakers at all times.” “I hope a bill supporting the death penalty for militants would soon be advanced beyond a preliminary vote in parliament,” he added.
