Middle East Monitor / January 3, 2023
Israeli Occupation Forces rounded up and detained around 7,000 Palestinians in 2022, contributing to last year being the deadliest since 2005 for those living under Occupation.
According to a report by the Palestine Centre for Prisoners Studies (PCPS) – co-authored by the Commission of Detainees and Ex-Prisoners’ Affairs, Palestinian Prisoner Society, Addameer Association for Prisoner Care and Human Rights, and Wadi Hilweh Centre – the Palestinians detained by Israel last year include hundreds of women and minors, as well as an increase in administrative detentions.
At least 164 of those arrested were Palestinian women and 865 arrests were of children, 142 of whom were under the age of 12 and some who were even under nine years old.
Fines imposed on minors by Israeli courts also amounted to around $140,000, the report said. According to the Director of PCPS, Riyad al-Ashqar, all detainees were subject to abuse, torture or humiliation.
Israeli authorities have also been increasing their crackdown on Palestinians expressing opinions online and on social media, particularly on Facebook, with 410 Palestinians having been detained based on their online activity due to “incitement against the Occupation”.
A total of 2,409 Palestinians were held last year under Israel’s notorious policy of administrative detention, without any trial or charge while often having their detentions – lasting for indefinite periods of time – renewed multiple times.
The city of Jerusalem reportedly witnessed the highest number of arrests, with around 3,000 Palestinians detained by Israeli Forces.
