Gaza War: Rights Groups Claim Over 8,000 Palestinians Languishing In Israeli Jails

Human Rights Groups have claimed that over 8,000 Palestinians are currently being held in various Israeli jails, amid an intensified wave of arrests and detentions in Gaza and the West Bank since the October 7, 2023, attacks by Hamas.

According to the Rights groups, the number held without charge is at a historic high following waves of massive arrests by the Israeli authorities in retaliation for that Hamas attack called “Operation Al-Aqsa Flood”, which reportedly had over 5,000 rockets fired from the Gaza Strip into Israel within a spate of 20 minutes.

Addameer, a human rights group supporting Palestinian political prisoners, said the detainees feature hundreds from Gaza, including 123 women, though the true total from the territory could be much higher.

Earlier this month the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club, an advocacy group that keeps a tally of detainees from the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, said there were about 7,800 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, the highest total for at least 14 years.

Also, Campaigners claimed that the number of those held in administrative detention, indefinitely and without charge, is at a historic high, even as Tala Nasir, a lawyer working with Addameer, said about 80 percent of detainees since 7 October fall into this category

Earlier in the month, images leaked of Israeli troops overseeing dozens of Palestinian men detained in Gaza stripped to their underwear and in some cases blindfolded and handcuffed. On Tuesday, the Israeli newspaper, Haaretz reported that hundreds of the men were being held at a military base in the south of Israel and that several had died in unclear circumstances.

In response to questions about alleged mistreatment, the Israeli military said that detainees were “treated according to protocol” and were given enough food and water. The army spokesperson, R Adm Daniel Hagari, said that arrests took place in two Hamas strongholds in northern Gaza and that detainees were told to strip to make sure they had not concealed explosives.

Hagari further explained that the men were questioned and those believed to have ties to Hamas were taken away for further interrogation, with former Israeli officials saying the “tactic was necessary”.

Speaking on the development, Yaakov Amidror, a former National Security Adviser (NSA) to the Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said; “This is already helping us, and it will be crucial for the next stage of the war”, adding; “That’s the stage where we clean areas from all the remnants of Hamas.”

During the weeklong ceasefire which ended on 1 December, Israel released 240 Palestinian minors and women from its jails in return for 80 Israeli hostages seized by Hamas during the attacks into southern Israel, which also killed 1,200, mostly civilians.

Meanwhile, claims by Palestinian officials indicated that Israel’s ensuing offensive in Gaza has killed more than 18,700 people, mostly women and children.

This is as the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club, based on data from the Israeli Prison Service, reported that most of the 14- to 17-year-olds freed have been detained for investigation and not convicted of a crime. Over that same week, Israel arrested 260 other Palestinians, leading to a net increase in the number of prisoners, the group said.

The pace of Israeli arrests of Palestinians – already quickening over the past two years – accelerated after Hamas’ 7 October attacks. Many observers say Israel’s systematic use of administrative detention is a violation of international law. Israeli officials said the measures are necessary to protect its population from terrorist attacks.

Ibrahim Dalalsha, an analyst at the Horizon Centre in Ramallah, said the new wave of arrests did not appear to be based on specific intelligence, noting that; “Usually the Israelis are going after people who are likely to commit or have committed offences after having a specific tip or information … This time they have gone after all people: different types of activists, their relatives, municipal workers. It’s a pre-emptive kind of arrest and very broad”’

Furthermore, Dalalsha said; “The impact has to be considered in a broader context of other collective measures used in the West Bank in ways that have not been used for some time … This is punishment because we are Palestinians, not because we are a threat.”

The vast majority of Palestinians detained, experts say, are teenage boys and young men accused of throwing stones and firebombs or associating with militants. Some are released relatively swiftly. Many spend several months or longer in harsh conditions behind bars.

The conviction rate for security offences in the West Bank is more than 99 percent and campaigners say detainees are often unable to read Hebrew-language statements or other documents, even confessions, and defence lawyers encourage young clients to plead guilty to avoid lengthy trials and detentions.

Lawyers say the crackdown is indiscriminate, with people branded as security threats for even mild social media posts. Within two months, six Palestinian men have died in Israeli custody, the highest number of cases in such a short period in decades, the UN said. – Agencies reports