Palestinian woman placed in administrative detention despite having both legs amputated

RAMALLAH, Palestine

A female Palestinian detainee underwent surgery to have her legs amputated at an Israeli hospital on Monday while an administrative detention order for four months was issued against her.

"Prisoner Wafaa Jarrar from Jenin city had surgery, during which her legs were amputated from below the knees," said her lawyer, Khaled Mahajneh.

He said he visited her at the hospital while she was under arrest, with guards from the Israeli army present.

Mahajneh noted that an administrative detention order was issued against her despite her difficult condition.

Israel’s policy of administrative detention allows Israeli authorities to extend the detention of a Palestinian prisoner indefinitely without charge or trial.

The Commission of Detainees’ Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoner Society said that Jarrar, 49, was seriously injured during her arrest on May 21 by Israeli forces from Jenin.

Her husband, Abdel-Jabbar Jarrar, 58, has also been under administrative detention since February.

Out of 80 women detainees in Israeli jails, there are at least 25 placed under administrative detention.

The total number of Palestinian detainees in Israeli jails as of the beginning of May had reached 9,300, including 3,400 under administrative detention.

Tensions have been running high across the West Bank since Israel launched a deadly military offensive against the Gaza Strip following an attack by the Palestinian group Hamas on Oct. 7 last year.

At least 519 Palestinians have since been killed and over 4,900 others injured by Israeli army fire in the occupied territory, according to the Health Ministry.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar