On the Palestinian Prisoner's Day:

(4900) Detainees are held in Israeli prisons

April 17 marks the Palestinian Prisoner's Day, which comes in coincidence with the escalation of the Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people, and implementing more systematic violations and crimes. 
The previous year witnessed remarkable turns in the light of the changes imposed by the Israeli elections and the heading of the right wing government by Ben Gvir, who used all measures to incite against detainees' and martyrs'  families. 

This incitement has reached to unprecedented level, especially in the light of developed measures used by the occupation's devices and the administration of prisons such as , passing racist laws and practicing firm and systematic policies aiming at imposing control over Palestinians.

Detainees' institutions: ( The Commission of Detainees' Affairs, The Palestinian Society Prisoner's Club, Addameer Association for Human Rights and Wadi Hilweh Information centre) confirmed in a joint report that the only variable is the occupation authorities and its devices, which developed more violations procedures aiming at taking away detainees' effectiveness and undermining any state of struggle.

There are currently (4900) detainees in Israeli prisons, including (31) women,  (160) minors and more than (1000) administrative detainees including (6) minors and (2) women.

Moreover,  there are (23) detainees who are imprisoned since before the  Oslo Accord, the oldest of whom is the detainee Mohammed Tous, who is detained since 1985.

Besides,  there are (11) detainees who have been released under an exchange bargain, but have been rearrested, such as the detainee Nael Barghouthi who is serving the longest period of imprisonment in the history of the Captive Movement. 

There are (400) detainees who spent more than (20) years in prison, called (senior detainees).

Furthermore, there are currently (554) detainees who are serving life sentences, where the longest sentence goes for the detainee Abdullah Barghouthi who is sentenced to (67) life sentences.

Regarding the martyrs of the Captive Movement,  (236) detainees have been martyred since 1967, in addition to hundreds of detainees who died after being released due to illnesses they got in prison. 

With regard to martyrs whose remains are withheld, there are (12) martyrs: Anees Dolah, who martyred in Ashkelon prison in 1980, Azeez Ewaisat whose remain is withheld since 2018, Fares Baroud, Nassar Taqatqa, Bassam Sayeh since 2019, Saadi Gharabli and Kamal Abu Waer since 2020, Sami Emour since 2021, Dawood Zubaidi and Muhammad Turkman since 2022, in addition to the detainee Naser Abu Hmaid who martyred in December 2022, and the last detainee is Wadee Abu Rmouz who martyred on January 2023.

Regarding the sick detainees, there are (700) sick detainees who suffer from different diseases and in need of intensive medical care, including (24) detainees who have cancer, where the most difficult case is the detainee Walid Daqqa, who is detained since 37 years, in addition to the detainee Asef Refaie. 

Arrest cases since the beginning of 2023

The Israeli authorities pursued its firm policies against Palestinian detainees and their families, where the crime of field executions was the most prominent procedure practiced during arrest.  

(2300) arrest cases have been recorded since the beginning of this year, including (350) minors, the majority of them are from Jerusalem, in addition to (40) women. 

The highest rate of arrests goes for Jerusalem in comparison  with the West Bank with (3000) cases in the West Bank out of (7000) cases in Palestine.

(1200) arrest cases have been recorded in Jerusalem, besides to house custody, deportation, imposing taxes, fines, house demolishing and seizing funds of detainees' families. 

Detainees and their families are subjected to systematic violations and crimes that start with the first moment of arrest, such as collective punishment, attacking detainees and their families, threatening, arresting family members,  torture in interrogation centers, preventing them from meeting lawyers and holding them for long periods in interrogation centers.

However, the policy of administrative detention constituted the most prominent crime escalated by the Israeli authorities, aiming at undermining any struggling act by detainees. 

The number of administrative detainees exceeded one thousand, which is the highest rate since 2003. It included children, elderly, sick persons and women, where there are (6) children held under the administrative detention and (2) women: Raghad Fanni and Rawda Abu Ajamiya.

Moreover, (860) orders of administrative detention have been issued since the beginning of 2023 under the pretext of a confidential file.

The situation of detainees in Israeli prisons with the systematic violations and crimes 

The Israeli authorities and the administration of prisons pursued their systematic and firm policies against detainees, such as the crime of medical ignorance, where last victim of medical ignorance was the martyr Ahmad Abu Ali, who died on February 2023.

There are currently (700) sick detainees, including (24) who suffer from cancer,  such as the detainee Walid Daqqa who is detained since 37 years, and subjected to the policy of medical ignorance. 

Furthermore,  the Israeli authorities pursued the policy of solitary confinement, which increased remarkably since 2021, especially after the operation of "freedom tunnel ". 
(35) detainees are currently held in solitary confinement, including sick detainees, such as Ahmad Manasra who is still isolated despite of his difficult health condition, in addition to the detainee Muhammad Khalil who has been isolated since more than 15 years.

Additionally,  the Israeli authorities pursued using the policy of incursions to the sections of prisons, where many incursions have been recorded since the beginning of this year, the difficult of which was conducted on January, and collective punishments have been imposed against detainees including solitary confinement. 

Moreover, the Israeli occupation authorities put more obstacles in front of family visits, especially detainees from Gaza as a punitive procedure.

Detainees have implemented a series of struggle and rebel acts since the beginning of 2023, protesting against the procedures of the extremist Ben Gvir, which targeted the quantity of water and bread  provided for detainees and hours of using toilets.

After a confrontation for 37 days, detainees were able to force the Israeli authorities to retreat from its measures, but it doesn't mean that Israel will stop its abusive measures against Palestinian detainees, which became part of the prisons system. 

Detainees' institutions confirm, in the light of the consistent aggression against our people, that human rights organisations all over the world have to do its role in defending the rights of Palestinian people, who are struggling against this occupation since decades, and who were subjected to countless crimes. 

We call on human rights organisations all over  the world to provide international protection for Palestinian detainees, in light of killing tens and arresting hundreds of the Palestinian people, and also we call for deterrent decisions against the occupation's crimes.