RAMALLAH, March 18, 2026 (WAFA) – The Palestinian Prisoner's Society said that Israeli occupation forces detained at least 15 women overnight from the Qalqilya governorate. Most of them were wives of released prisoners, in addition to wives of current prisoners and mothers of slain Palestinians.
The PPS affirmed that the detentions come at a time as Israel continues to prevent legal teams from visiting prisoners since the start of the ongoing war. It also continues to prevent families of prisoners from visiting their sons following the genocide, and to prevent the International Committee of the Red Cross from conducting its visits.
It described the campaign as unprecedented in both scale and the category of those targeted, as it was carried out in a single night within one area. This is despite the widespread arrest campaigns and field investigations that have targeted more than 700 women in the West Bank, along with dozens in Gaza, since the beginning of the war.
The PPS emphasized that this mass targeting is an extension of the systematic and retaliatory arrest campaigns carried out daily across the West Bank.
It affirmed that targeting women is one of the most prominent historical policies that the occupation has consistently pursued, a policy that has been evident at many significant historical junctures.
However, following the genocide, this policy has escalated, not only in terms of the number of women targeted but also in the level of violations, abuse, and assaults during arrests. Wives, mothers, and sisters of prisoners and those killed were among the most frequently targeted groups.
It further stated that the majority of women arrested since the beginning of the genocide have either been placed under administrative detention or have been charged with "incitement" on social media.
According to human rights organizations, the number of female detainees held in Israeli prisons as of yesterday, prior to the latest arrest campaign, was 74.
They are reportedly held under harsh and tragic detention conditions, including torture and ill-treatment, particularly during interrogation, daily humiliation, and deprivation of the most basic rights, including medical treatment, in addition to the crime of starvation.
They are also subjected to unprecedented repression by special units and strip searches.
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