Several Palestinian cities on Monday witnessed widespread solidarity with the female prisoners in Israeli prisons, as an expression of their support with the approaching anniversary of National Women’s Day on October 26.
The participants in the events called for the immediate release of sick prisoners, children, women and administrative detainees.
The cities of Ramallah, Hebron, Jericho, Qalqilya, Jerusalem and Jenin witnessed several solidarity vigils.
The Prisoners and Ex-Prisoners Affairs Commission said that the number of Palestinian women arrested since 1967 has reached about 17,000.
In a press release, the Ministry of Women’s Affairs called on the United Nations, the International Committee of the Red Cross and the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention to put pressure on the Israeli occupation to end the file of administrative detention, abolish the policy of solitary confinement and stop its use against Palestinians.
The Prisoners’ Affairs Authority clarified that 30 Palestinian female prisoners are currently languishing in Israeli prisons, among 4,700 female and male prisoners.
It stated that among the 30 female prisoners are two women under administrative detention— Shurooq al-Badan from Bethlehem governorate, Bushra al-Taweel from Ramallah governorate, and a minor female prisoner (less than 18-year-old).
The commission’s data showed that during the current year and last year, the largest rate of arrest among women was from the Jerusalem governorate, reaching 45 percent.
It pointed out that 17 female prisoners had been sentenced, the most senior of whom was 16-year-old Shurooq Dwaiyat and Shatila Abu Ayyad, and the two 15-year-old female prisoners, Aisha Al-Afghani and Maysoon Al Jabali.
Prisoners’ Affairs warned that there are six wounded female prisoners in the occupation prisons, the most noticeable of them is the case of the prisoner Esraa Jaabis from Jerusalem, who is sentenced to 11 years in prison, as she suffers severe burns on her body, causing deformities, urgently needs several surgeries.
The commission said that two female prisoners martyred during their detention inside the occupation prisons were—
- The prisoner Saadia Faraj Allah from the town of Idna, west of Hebron, was martyred in July 2022 as a result of deliberate medical negligence during her detention at Damoon Detention Center.
- The prisoner Fatima Taqaqata from Bethlehem, was arrested after she was shot by the occupation and was killed in May 2017 in the Israeli Shaarei Tzedek hospital.
