Palestinian mothers make up 12 of the 39 prisoners held in the Damon and Hasharon Israeli jails, said the Commission of Detainees And Ex-Detainees Affairs.
In a statement on Saturday, it pointed to the suffering they endure in detention and their deprivation from seeing their children on the occasion of Mother’s Day, which falls on March 21.
The detained mothers are Isra Jaabis, Khalid Jarrar, Fadwa Hamadeh, Amani Hashim, Hilweh Hamamreh, Nisreen Hassan, Inas Asafreh, Aya Khatib, Inman Awar, Khitam Saafin, Shurouq Badan and Anhar al-Hajjeh, who is pregnant.
“Children of the imprisoned women miss their mothers on this day and every day,” the statement noted.
They are forbidden from visiting their mothers under false security pretenses, it added. The situation has become more difficult due to restrictions imposed by the coronavirus pandemic, which forced authorities to bar family visits.
The detained mothers are suffering mentally as a result of the severe anxiety they have over the wellbeing of their children, the statement explained.
The Commission, which is affiliated with the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO), accused Israeli jailers of subjecting the prisoners to “all forms of pressure and severe arbitrary measures,” such as poor medical care.
Israeli security forces have arrested more than 17,000 Palestinian women since 1967, it said, highlighting their major patriotic role, alongside Palestinian men, in confronting the occupation.
It called on the international community to free Palestinian mothers and women and provide them with adequate support to protect them and their children from Israeli forces.
It further stressed the need to work on all levels to and stop their suffering in Israeli jails.
