Israeli decision to establish a new prison "suggests a new wave of mass arrests"

Israel’s decision to build a new prison on the occupied West Bank suggests that the Palestinians can expect a wave of mass arrests, according to a prisoners’ support committee. Calling the decision a “reflection of the occupation authority’s arrogance and criminal mentality based on terrorism and repression,” the General Coordinator of the National Committee for Supporting Prisoners added, “The existing 23 prisons and detention centres can’t satisfy the Israelis’ desire to imprison Palestinians”.

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Mr. Baha’eddin Madhooun said that many prisoners are being held without trial and face torture and abuse from the Israeli guards as a matter of routine. “What is interesting,” he said, “is that Israel is building the new prison inside an existing prison in Ramallah, not in Israel.” The new prison will have four tower blocks, each 12 storeys high, and has already been dubbed “the high-rise prison”.

Around 10 to 15 Palestinians are “kidnapped” by the occupation security forces every day, claims Mr. Madhoun; some are released after investigations, but most are sent to prison. However, the announcement of the new prison, he said, “adds to the concerns that more mass arrests are in the offing, particularly of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, including Jerusalem”.