Over 10,000 Palestinians have been arrested in the occupied West Bank since October, Palestinian prisoners groups have said in a statement.
The New Arab Staff
10 August, 2024
Over 10,000 Palestinians have been arrested in the occupied West Bank since October, prisoner groups say [Getty]
Israeli forces have arrested over 10,000 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank since the start of the war on Gaza in October, Palestinian prisoner groups said.
A joint statement published on Saturday by the Prisoners Affairs Authority and the Palestinian Prisoners Club added that Israeli forces have arrested at least 40 Palestinians in the past two days, including women, children, and former prisoners who were freed from Israeli jails.
The prisoner groups added that the arrests took place all over the West Bank, and often came following violent attacks on families, as well as vandalism and destruction of Palestinians’ homes and property.
"The total number of arrests since the start of the ongoing war of extermination in Gaza has reached over 10,000 citizens in the West Bank, including Jerusalem," the statement read.
The head of the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club, Abdullah Al-Zaghri, told Al-Jazeera Arabic that violations against Palestinians in the West Bank continue daily in the West Bank, as well as in Gaza.
"Thousands have been arrested in Gaza, and no one has been able to register them and document their names because the occupation continues to practice a policy of forced disappearance and not disclose any information relating to prisoners in the Strip" he said.
Since October, Israeli forces have also killed 620 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and wounded over 5,400 others, official Palestinian figures state.
Rights groups including Amnesty International have raised alarm over Israel’s increased attacks and arrests on the occupied territory since October.
Earlier this year, Human Rights Watch also said Israeli security forces have “unlawfully used lethal force in fatal shootings of Palestinians in the West Bank.”
"These killings are taking place at a level without recent precedent in an environment in which Israeli forces have no need to fear that their government will hold them accountable," Richard Weir, the senior crisis and conflict researcher at Human Rights Watch said in a statement.
Leaked Israeli prison footage 'shows sexual abuse' of Palestinian detainee
The footage comes as several Israeli soldiers are being investigated for sexually abusing a Palestinian held at the Sde Teiman detention camp.
The New Arab Staff
07 August, 2024
The number of Palestinian held in Israeli jails has doubled since October
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Palestinian detainees recount mistreatment while in Israel prison
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At least 53 Palestinians are believed to have died in Israeli jails since October, either through torture-induced injuries or from being deprived of medical treatment.
Many of those detained are kept indefinitely without trial or charge, or access to lawyers or family. The UN says this could qualify as enforced disappearance, an international crime.
Israel also blocked visits to the prison from the International Red Cross Committee.
Testimonies disclosing the abuse and torture allegations have been sourced from freed detainees, Israeli whistleblowers or rights groups such as Israel Physicians for Human Rights, who is campaigning for Sde Teiman facility to be shut down, describing it as a violation of Israeli law.
The footage comes as several Israeli soldiers are being investigated for sexually abusing a Palestinian held at the Sde Teiman detention camp.
The New Arab Staff
07 August, 2024
The number of Palestinian held in Israeli jails has doubled since October
[GETTY/file photo]
A video leaked from an Israeli detention camp purportedly showing the abuse of a Palestinian prisoner has added to mounting allegations of sexual abuse and torture of Palestinian detainees.
The video, aired by Israel's Channel 12 broadcaster on Wednesday, documents Israeli soldiers allegedly sexually assaulting a Palestinian man at Israel’s Sde Teiman, a secret imprisonment camp in the Negev desert set up after 7 October where hundreds of people from Gaza have been held.
It is not clear how the news channel obtained the footage, which appears to be from an internal surveillance camera, or when the incident might have taken place.
The video shows at least 25 detainees lying face-down on the ground in rows as a group of masked soldiers with a dog pick one man out and take him away.
He is then taken to a corner of the yard as soldiers use shields to hide their actions from the camera as he is reportedly sexually abused. The detainee was hospitalised due to injuries caused by an object being inserted into his body, a medical report stated.
The footage comes following several investigations by rights groups, media, and an investigation by Israel's military court into alleged abuses committed by Israeli authorities against Palestinians in detention facilities.
Last week, Israeli authorities detained nine soldiers accused of attacking and raping a Palestinian detainee at the Sde Teiman facility. The doctor who treated the Palestinian at hospital told Haaretz newspaper that the injuries were so horrific he did not initially believe that an Israeli "could do something like that" and felt compelled to speak out.
Their arrests caused large protests by far-right groups and politicians who argued that the soldiers should not be arrested, describing them as heroes.
Five members of the Israeli military's Force 100 Unit are currently facing trial.
Haaretz reported on Tuesday that two of the arrested reservists were found to have lied during a polygraph test as part of the investigation when they were asked if they had sexually abused detainees.
Last week, Israeli media outlets reported that the abused Palestinian detainee had been returned to the Sde Teiman facility.
The investigation comes amid the publication of a major report by Jerusalem rights group B'Tselem which details Israeli prison authorities' extensive abuse of Palestinian men, women, and children, including torture, sexual abuse, sleep and food deprivation, violence and humiliation.
The B'Tselem report released on Tuesday also followed a damning report from the UN Office for Human Rights published last week which condemned Israel’s “incommunicado” detention of Palestinians.
“The testimonies gathered by my Office and other entities indicate a range of appalling acts, such as waterboarding and the release of dogs on detainees, amongst other acts, in flagrant violation of international human rights law and international humanitarian law,” UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk said.
A video leaked from an Israeli detention camp purportedly showing the abuse of a Palestinian prisoner has added to mounting allegations of sexual abuse and torture of Palestinian detainees.
The video, aired by Israel's Channel 12 broadcaster on Wednesday, documents Israeli soldiers allegedly sexually assaulting a Palestinian man at Israel’s Sde Teiman, a secret imprisonment camp in the Negev desert set up after 7 October where hundreds of people from Gaza have been held.
It is not clear how the news channel obtained the footage, which appears to be from an internal surveillance camera, or when the incident might have taken place.
The video shows at least 25 detainees lying face-down on the ground in rows as a group of masked soldiers with a dog pick one man out and take him away.
He is then taken to a corner of the yard as soldiers use shields to hide their actions from the camera as he is reportedly sexually abused. The detainee was hospitalised due to injuries caused by an object being inserted into his body, a medical report stated.
The footage comes following several investigations by rights groups, media, and an investigation by Israel's military court into alleged abuses committed by Israeli authorities against Palestinians in detention facilities.
Last week, Israeli authorities detained nine soldiers accused of attacking and raping a Palestinian detainee at the Sde Teiman facility. The doctor who treated the Palestinian at hospital told Haaretz newspaper that the injuries were so horrific he did not initially believe that an Israeli "could do something like that" and felt compelled to speak out.
Their arrests caused large protests by far-right groups and politicians who argued that the soldiers should not be arrested, describing them as heroes.
Five members of the Israeli military's Force 100 Unit are currently facing trial.
Haaretz reported on Tuesday that two of the arrested reservists were found to have lied during a polygraph test as part of the investigation when they were asked if they had sexually abused detainees.
Last week, Israeli media outlets reported that the abused Palestinian detainee had been returned to the Sde Teiman facility.
The investigation comes amid the publication of a major report by Jerusalem rights group B'Tselem which details Israeli prison authorities' extensive abuse of Palestinian men, women, and children, including torture, sexual abuse, sleep and food deprivation, violence and humiliation.
The B'Tselem report released on Tuesday also followed a damning report from the UN Office for Human Rights published last week which condemned Israel’s “incommunicado” detention of Palestinians.
“The testimonies gathered by my Office and other entities indicate a range of appalling acts, such as waterboarding and the release of dogs on detainees, amongst other acts, in flagrant violation of international human rights law and international humanitarian law,” UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk said.
Related
Palestinian detainees recount mistreatment while in Israel prison
Video
At least 53 Palestinians are believed to have died in Israeli jails since October, either through torture-induced injuries or from being deprived of medical treatment.
Many of those detained are kept indefinitely without trial or charge, or access to lawyers or family. The UN says this could qualify as enforced disappearance, an international crime.
Israel also blocked visits to the prison from the International Red Cross Committee.
Testimonies disclosing the abuse and torture allegations have been sourced from freed detainees, Israeli whistleblowers or rights groups such as Israel Physicians for Human Rights, who is campaigning for Sde Teiman facility to be shut down, describing it as a violation of Israeli law.
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