3.800 Palestinians Detained Since Start of 2017

Ramallah, MINA – Nearly 3,800 Palestinians have been arrested by Israeli occupation forces since the beginning of 2017, according to official Palestinian statistics on Monday.

Prisoners and Ex-Prisoners Commission said in a statement that the arrests this year included families of detainees as part of an Israeli collective punishment policy pursued against the Palestinian people.

Head of the Commission, Isa Qaraqe, described these “retaliatory practices” as war crimes and flagrant violations of the international law and the Fourth Geneva Convention.

Qaraqe pointed out that the sanctions imposed recently on the family of the Palestinian detainee Omar al-Abed constitute a “blatant example of the arbitrary collective punishment policy adopted by the Israeli occupation authorities”.

Around 6,400 Palestinian prisoners are being held in Israeli jails including 62 females, 10 of whom are minors, 300 children, 450 administrative detainees and 12 MPs.(R/R04/RS5)

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)