Number of Palestinians MPs imprisoned by Israel rises to 12

The number of Palestinian MPs currently imprisoned by Israel has risen to 12 after the arrest of former minister Omar Abdul Raziq, the Director of the Palestine Prisoners’ Centre for Studies said on Sunday.

Riyad Al-Ashqar explained that the Israeli occupation forces raided Abdul Raziq’s house in Salfit before taking him to an unknown location. The MPs house was searched and furniture was damaged during the raid.

Like other West Bank MPs, Abdul Raziq has been arrested a number of times — six in his case — and spent more than seven years in Israeli prisons. On the last occasion, Al-Ashqar pointed out, the MP spent nine months under administrative detention following the death of three Israeli settlers in Hebron in 2014. Administrative detention is a process by which Israel can hold Palestinians with neither charge nor trial for an indefinite period.

At one stage, Israel was holding 42 Palestinian MPs, including the speaker of the Palestinian parliament Professor Aziz Dwaik. According to Al-Ashqar, this number fell to 10 but Israel’s recent arrest of Khalida Jarrar MP as well as AbdulRaziq has seen that trend reversed.

Read: Israel arrests Palestinian MP Khalida Jarrar

Meanwhile, reports have confirmed that Israel’s occupation authorities have now indicted Mohamed Al-Tal who was arrested on 21 March, despite severe health issues. The 51-year old MP has been held for 3 months under an administrative detention order.