240 Palestinian women detained by Israel since October: NGO

RAMALLAH, Palestine

Around 240 Palestinian women have been detained by Israeli forces in the West Bank and Israel since last October, according to a local nongovernmental organization on Thursday.

“This year is the bloodiest for Palestinian women,” the Palestinian Prisoner Society said in a statement marking International Women's Day on March 8.

“Targeting Palestinian women has been one of the most prominent and systematic policies of the Israeli occupation,” it added.

The NGO said there are no exact estimates of the number of Palestinian women detained by the Israeli army in the Gaza Strip.

“Though some women were released from detention, it’s certain that there are women who are still detained in the occupation camps, and are subjected to enforced disappearance.”

“In total, some 60 Palestinian women prisoners are still languishing in Israeli prisons,” it added.

Tensions have been running high across the West Bank since Israel launched a deadly military offensive against the Gaza Strip after a cross-border attack by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023.

At least 420 Palestinians have since been killed and more than 4,600 others injured by Israeli fire in the occupied territory, according to the Health Ministry.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, which in an interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza, where at least 30,800 people have been killed.

*Writing by Rania Abu Shamala