Israel holds 11,100 Palestinian detainees in its prisons: Rights groups

RAMALLAH, Palestine / ISTANBUL

At least 11,100 Palestinians are held in Israeli prisons, prisoners’ affairs groups said on Wednesday.

The detainees include 49 women and 400 children under the age of 18, the Palestinian Prisoner Society, Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association, and the Commission of Detainees Affairs said in a joint statement.

The groups said that this figure, however, does not include Palestinians held in Israeli army-run camps.

“There are 3,577 Palestinians held administratively without trial or charge under Israel’s policy of administrative detention,” the groups said.

The number of detainees held by Israel is the highest since the Second Intifada in 2000.

The rights groups aid that 2,662 detainees in Israeli custody are classified by Israeli as “unlawful combatant.”

Israeli human rights organizations have reported torture, abuse, starvation, and medical neglect against Palestinians held at Israeli prisons.

The Israeli army has launched a brutal military offensive on the Gaza Strip, killing more than 63,700 Palestinians in Gaza. The military campaign has devastated the enclave, which is facing famine.

Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.