Jerusalem: The number of Palestinians detained by the Israeli occupation forces, during the month of May alone, exceeded 690 Palestinians, including women and minors.
Palestinian institutions concerned with prisoners’ affairs said that the Israeli army arrested about 690 Palestinians last May, including 76 minors and 19 women.
This came in a joint report issued by the Prisoners and Ex-Prisoners Affairs Commission (official), the Palestinian Prisoner Club, the Addameer Foundation for Prisoner Care and Human Rights, and the Wadi Hilweh Information Center – Jerusalem (non-governmental).
May witnessed the second-highest rate of detainees since the beginning of this year after 1,228 Palestinians were held in the month of April.
The highest rate of arrests during May was in Jerusalem, amounting to 401 cases, including 58 children and minors, and 16 women. The number of administrative detention orders issued during the month reached, about 160, most of them issued against new detainees.
Arrests in Jerusalem constituted the highest rate every month, followed by Hebron, Jenin, and Bethlehem.
According to a report, it pointed out that the arrests were accompanied by grave violations against the detainees and their families, as well as after their transfer to interrogation and detention centres, in addition to the recording of various injuries, including several detainees shot by the Israeli army.
It is reported that the number of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons reached about 4,700 by the end of May, including 32 women and 170 minors, while the number of administrative detainees reached about 640.
Usually, Israel carries out campaigns of arresting Palestinians, releasing some of them after several days of investigation, while transferring the majority to prisons.
