RAMALLAH, Thursday, April 16, 2020 (WAFA) – Marking Palestinian Prisoner Day, which coincides tomorrow, several prisoners’ advocacy groups today said that Israel has detained 1324 Palestinians since the start of this year, including 210 minors and 31 women.

They said that in addition, 295 Palestinians were placed in administrative detention without charge or trial for periods that can run into several years.

The groups said that since the outbreak of the coronavirus disease, Israel detained 357 Palestinians in March, including 48 minors and four women.

Of the total 5000 Palestinians currently incarcerated in Israel, there are 41 women prisoners and 180 minors.

In addition, 26 prisoners have been in jail since before the signing of the Oslo accords between the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and Israel in 1993, with 51 prisoners incarcerated for more than 20 years, including 14 who have been in jail for more than 30 years, and 541 prisoners serving one or multiple life terms, the highest is for Abdallah Barghouti with 67 life terms.

Among the 5000 prisoners, there are 430 Palestinians held in administrative detention and 13 journalists.

The advocacy groups called for release of the Palestinian prisoners as a result of the coronavirus outbreak in order to save their lives, mainly the elderly, women, children and those held in administrative detention.

They also called for an international medical committee to check the health of the prisoners and provide them with the necessary material to assure their safety.

T.R./M.K.