Israel arrested 16 Palestinian women and girls in March

The Israeli occupation forces arrested 16 women and girls in March, the Palestinian Prisoners’ Centre (PPC) said on Sunday, reported QudsNet News. A spokesman for the PPC, Riyad Al-Ashqar, accused the Israelis of “systematically” targeting women and girls, arresting between 15 and 20 “every month”.

He cited, for example, the arrest of Zahra Al-Nimir, 20, and Manar Al-Nimir, 22, the daughters of the woman killed by the Israeli forces at the Old City of Jerusalem’s Damascus Gate last week. Their brother, Mustafa Al-Nimir, was killed by the Israeli forces in Jerusalem a couple of months ago.

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The PPC researcher said that in several cases, the relatives of Palestinian prisoners or Palestinians killed by the Israeli occupation are themselves arrested on the pretext that they have been trying to attack Israelis. Joudeh Abu-Mazem, 38, from Nablus, is one example. She is the mother of prisoner Sadeq Abu-Mazen and has been sentenced to four months in prison. Another prisoner, Fadi Al-Harroub, from Hebron, heard that his mother was arrested while trying to visit him and was interrogated for several hours before being released.

According to Al-Ashqar, many women, including minors like Sondon Al-Jolani, aged 17, have been arrested at their homes in Jerusalem.