ISRAELI FORCES DETAIN 550 PALESTINIANS IN SIX MONTHS

Gaza, 16 Ramadan 1436/3 July 2015 (MINA) – Israeli forces have detained 550 Palestinians, including women and children, in the occupied West Bank since the beginning of 2015.

The detainees, who were arrested in the southern city of al-Khalil (Hebron), included seven women and 105 teenagers, Amjad Najjar, the head of the Palestinian Prisoners Society (PPS) in al-Khalil, said on Thursday.

The Palestinian official added that 225 of the detainees received sentences through the Israeli practice of the so-called administrative detention, under which Palestinians are kept behind bars without charge or trial for months or even years. Press Tv reports as quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA).

According to Najjar, 78 Palestinian patients “who faced a real life threat as a result of detention” were among the inmates in Israeli jails, where they receive no “medical treatment.”

He noted that Israeli forces treat the Palestinian detainees in a “savage and inhuman way during detention.”

The PPS report pointed out that many of those detained during the six-month period were from the town of Beit Ummar, where over 60 residents, mostly minors, were arrested between January and March.

Earlier reports by the PPS showed that Israel detained 383 Palestinians across the West Bank in December 2014.

Over 7,000 Palestinians are reportedly incarcerated in 17 Israeli prisons and detention camps. (T/P002/R04)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)