The PLO’s Palestinian prisoners committee has announced that 17,000 women have been held in Israeli jails since 1967, including 36 women who are still in prison and another 47 awaiting trial.
In its latest report published on Sunday, the committee said it has monitored one million arrests of Palestinians since 1967, including 17,000 women.
It added that the largest number of arrests occurred in the first ‘Intifada’ (1987-1993), during which 3,000 women were arrested, and the second uprising of 2000-2005, when around 1,000 women were detained.
The report noted that the arrest of women intensified over the past two years, especially at the Aqsa Mosque compound.
The number of child prisoners in Israeli jails currently stands at 250, including 41 children from Jerusalem (36 of whom are in house arrest and 5 are minors held in “shelters”). The number of administrative prisoners is about 500, including men and women, while there are 700 prisoners who are suffering from illnesses, including 30 cancer patients.
In addition, 570 Palestinian prisoners are sentenced to life in prison, including nine prisoners who were released in swap deals and returned to detention on the grounds of re-engaging in armed activities.
According to the committee, 218 prisoners have died in Israeli jails since 1967: 73 succumbed to torture; 63 died due to medical negligence; seven people in direct liquidation and 78 others were murdered or executed immediately after their arrest.
According to this year’s data, the Israeli occupation authorities arrested about 1,600 Palestinians, the majority from Jerusalem, including about 230 children and 40 women.
