RAMALLAH, December 31, 2024 (WAFA) – Palestinian Prisoners' institutions declared that 2024 has become the deadliest year in the history of the Palestinian prisoners' movement, citing a surge in deaths and escalating violence against detainees in Israeli prisons.
In a press conference held on Tuesday during the weekly sit-in in support of detainees incarcerated in the occupation’s prisons at the Al-Bireh Cultural Center in the city of Al-Bireh, Palestinian Prisoners' institutions highlighted the severe suffering of detainees, emphasizing the systematic torture, starvation, medical neglect and overcrowding in Israeli prisons.
Head of the Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs, Qaddura Fares, said Israel has been waging a war on detainees and prisoners since the first day of the genocidal war waged against the Gaza Strip, a campaign involving all of Israel's political and military institutions.
The aim, he said, is to take revenge on the Palestinian people by targeting the symbols of their struggle; the detainees.
“We have warned that we would soon receive news of the martyrdom of detainees in groups after several had already died individually in recent months. We have now reached a critical point, and what lies ahead will be even more severe due to the continued acts of torture," said Fares.
He stated that the number of Palestinians who have died in Israeli custody since the onset of the genocidal war has reached 54.
Fares stressed that investigations into the deaths of most detainees fron the West Bank who underwent autopsy clearly showed that their deaths were caused by torture, deliberate medical neglect, or a combination of both.
However, he stressed that the abuse inflicted on Gaza detainees is even more intense, brutal and violent.
He made an urgent appeal to the international community and human rights organizations, calling for practical measures to pressure the Israeli government. He emphasized that without such actions, it would be impossible to prevent Israel from continuing to commit further crimes.
Meanwhile, Abdullah Al-Zaghari, the Head of the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society (PPS), presented key statistics regarding detainees in Israeli prisons for 2024, which has been marked as the deadliest, most devastating and tragic year for the Palestinian people and prisoners in Israeli detention centers.
He said that since October 7, 2023, Israel has detained at least 25,000 Palestinians, with approximately 14,300 detainees from the West Bank and Jerusalem, and the rest from Gaza.
In 2024, he noted, around 8,800 Palestinians were detained, adding that administrative detention orders were issued as a punitive measure against nearly 10,000 detainees.
He said that a total of 54 Palestinians have died in Israeli prisons during this period, 35 of whom were from Gaza. Their bodies are still being held by Israel. He stressed that these statistics are derived from estimates by specialized organizations, as the Israeli occupation has not provided accurate information about detainees from Gaza.
Additionally, 450 women, including minors, university students and former detainees, have been detained, he said, noting that at least 89 women remain in Israeli custody.
According to Al-Zaghari, around 1,065 children have been detained, nearly 700 of them since the beginning of 2024.
The head of PPS further stated that the situation faced by Gaza detainees has been one of the most significant challenges encountered by institutions over the past year, with the occupation deliberately withholding information from their families. This was exacerbated by the negative responses from prison authorities when legal teams sought information about detainees subjected to enforced disappearance, he stressed.
The head of the Higher Commission for the Follow-up of the Affairs of Detainees and Ex-Detainees, Amin Shoman, stated that prisoner institutions are compiling numerous files on the crimes committed in Israeli prisons to hold the occupation accountable at the highest political and security levels.
He emphasized the need for a comprehensive movement that reflects the suffering of Palestinian detainees in occupation prisons, aimed at demanding an end to all violations, collective punishments and retaliatory policies.
This movement should engage all political factions, sectors, civil society organizations, unions and federations, he stressed.
T.R.
