Report: 420 Palestinians Arrested, Jailed by Israel in February

Ramallah, 4 Jumadil Akhir 1438/3 March 2017 (MINA) – A human rights group said that 420 Palestinians, including children and women, were either detained, arrested or jailed last February by the Israeli military and security authorities.

In its monthly report, the Palestinian Prisoner Center for Studies said it had documented 12 arrest incidents that happened in the Gaza Strip, including the detention of five fishermen after damaging their boats and two citizens at Beit Hanoun (Erez) border crossing, the Palestinian Information Center (PIC) reported.

In addition, five Gazan young men were also arrested for allegedly trying to cross the border into the 1984 occupied lands.

In the West Bank, a journalist called Hammam Hantash was arrested by Israeli soldiers. He is now being held in administrative detention.

22 Palestinian women and girls were also taken prisoners during the reporting month. One of them is a 28-year-old Jerusalemite woman, who was arrested after being shot by soldiers near Qalandiya checkpoint.

The month also saw the arrest and detention of 70 children in the West Bank and Jerusalem. The youngest of them was 12-year-old Shaker al-Ash’hab from Jerusalem.

The report also said that Israeli courts sentenced 17-year-old Hudaifa Taha, from Kafr Aqab village, to 12 years in jail and 16-year-old Amal Qabha, a girl from Jenin, to 18 months.

During February, 88 administrative detention orders were issued as well against Palestinians, according to the report.

23 of those orders were issued for the first time against administrative detainees and 65 were extensions to previous ones.(T/R04/RS05)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)