Report: Israel detained 350 Palestinians in January

Israeli forces detained 350 Palestinians from the West Bank and the Gaza Strip during January 2013, AHRAR Centre for Prisoners Studies and Human Rights has reported.

According to Fou’ad al-Khaffash, manager of AHRAR, only 15 detainees came from the Gaza Strip; the majority of whom are fishermen, while 92 were from Jerusalem with the remaining number distributed among the other West Banks cities.

According to AHRAR’s monthly report, 82 are from Hebron, 44 from Jenin, 36 from Bethlehem, 35 from Nablus, 15 from Ramallah, 14 from Tobas, 6 from Qalqilia and Tulkarm and 5 from Salfeet.

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The report stated that eight prisoners were detained at Israeli checkpoints in the West Bank and one at the Eretz Crossing between Gaza and occupied Palestine. The individual detained at the Eretz Crossing was 34 year old Rafiq Abu Harbid who was in the West Bank seeking treatment.

According to the report, Hassan Torabi, 22, who has been suffering from cancer for 10 years, was also detained at one of the crossings in the West Banks while on his way to Jordan to seek treatment.

Al-Khaffash said that this was not a complete number of the arrests as sometimes citizens who stay only a few days in Israeli jails are not officially reported.

He also called for mass media and human rights organisations to shed light on Israeli detention of Palestinian citizens and the continuous “humiliation” of their rights. He said that they are “exposed to brutal procedures while they are being kidnapped from their families.”

Describing the misery of the prisoners inside the Israeli jails, the former prisoner, Al-Khaffash, said: “When the Israelis do not find proof against a prisoner, they put him under administrative detention for an unlimited number of times.”