Palestinian lawmakers held in Israeli jails under administrative detention

The Ahrar Centre for Human Rights and Prisoners Studies reported on Thursday that 11 out of the 15 Palestinian parliamentarians in Israeli prisons are being held under administrative detention.

Ahrar’s director Fuad Al-Khuffash, who is a former prisoner himself, explained that the Israeli occupation continuously targets the Palestinian lawmakers by repeatedly placing them under administrative detention, which means that they can be held without charges indefinitely.

The latest targeting, Al-Khuffash said, happened last week when parliamentarians Nizar Ramadan and Mohamed Maher Badr were arrested and held under administrative detention. He added that both lawmakers have already spent years in Israeli jails under this kind of detention.

Al-Khuffasha explained that the imprisoned lawmakers recently partook in the hunger strike carried out by administrative detainees in Israeli jails. They also suspended their dealings with the Israeli courts and prison clinics in protest of their indefinite detention without being charged.

Dozens of national, regional and international human rights organisations have repeatedly called for the Israeli occupation to free Palestinian lawmakers and to put an end to the practice of administrative detention. However, the Israeli occupation has so far refused to heed their calls.