RAMALLAH, Friday, February 11, 2022 (WAFA) – Israeli occupation forces arrested 502 Palestinians in January, prisoner advocacy groups said in a joint statement yesterday.

The Commission of Detainees and Ex-detainees' Affairs, the Palestinian Prisoners' Club, Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association, and Wadi Hilweh Information Centre said the detainees included 54 children, one of whom was under 12 years old, and six women.

"The number of Palestinian detainees in Israeli prisons has reached around 4,500 by the end of January, including 34 women, 180 minors, and about 500 under administrative detention," the statement pointed out, in reference to Israel's policy of holding Palestinians without charge or trial.

The statement added that the occupation authorities were continuing "to target Palestinian university students over their university activities."

The rights groups noted that COVID-19 was "spreading in all Israeli prisons, especially Ofer Prison, where the number of infections had exceeded 500 cases."

M.N