Report: Israeli forces detained 420 Palestinians in February

Israeli forces detained 420 Palestinians during the month of February, including 70 minors and 22 females, according to a statement released on Saturday by the Palestinian Prisoners’ Centre for Studies.

The centre said in its monthly report that 12 people were detained from the besieged Gaza Strip, including five fishermen whose boats were destroyed by Israeli forces before their detention, two who were detained at the Beit Hanoun crossing, and five who were detained after Israel alleged they attempted to cross the border fence between the besieged enclave and Israel.

Read: Israeli forces detain Palestinian women and children

A journalist was also among the detainees, identified by the centre as Humam Muhammad Hantash from the southern occupied West Bank district of Hebron. He was sentenced to administrative detention – imprisonment without charge or trial based on undisclosed evidence.

The centre added that 88 administrative detention orders were issued by Israeli courts in the same period, 23 of which were issued for the first time, while 65 were renewed orders. Meanwhile, 32 administrative detention orders were issued against Palestinians from Hebron.

According to Addameer, as of January, 6,500 Palestinians were being held in Israeli prisons, 536 of whom were being held under administrative detention.