Israeli forces imprisoned 82-year-old from Gaza with Alzheimer’s for two months: report

The Israeli army arrested and imprisoned an elderly Palestinian woman with Alzheimer’s from Gaza for almost two months, Haaretz reported on Thursday.

Fahamiya Khalidi was detained by Israeli forces in December after she was displaced from her home and forced to take shelter in a school in Gaza City’s Zeitoun neighbourhood.

Khalidi was detained under the Incarceration of Unlawful Combatants Law – which allows for detainees to be held without trial – and taken to Israel’s Damon Prison. She was released from prison on 19 January. 

The 82-year-old woman was handcuffed while in prison, and a request by a lawyer to meet her was refused by authorities.

Medical reports from last year indicated that she suffered from a range of medical problems aside from Alzheimer's, and had difficulty walking.

Khalidi’s carer – who is required to stay with her at all times, as she lives alone – was also arrested, and remains in custody.

84-year-old Elham Farah: Accordionist, aunt and Gaza's first ever music teacher killed by Israeli sniper https://t.co/LNGFiduJ9Q

— The New Arab (@The_NewArab) December 14, 2023

Other elderly and disabled people were also being detained at Damon prison, Haaretz reported.

Since her release, Khalidi has struggled to detail what happened to her due to her condition, leaving many of the facts surrounding her arrest unknown. 

The Israeli Prison Service told Haaretz that Khalidi was held "in accordance with the law".

Khalidi’s children, who all live abroad, knew of their mother’s arrest but were unable to obtain information about her whereabouts. 

Since the start of the war on Gaza on 7 October, Israel has refused to provide families and human rights groups with information about the whereabouts of detainees.

The Incarceration of Unlawful Combatants Law provides detainees with even fewer protections than the administrative detention orders used to hold more than 1,000 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, Israeli human rights group B'Tselem has said.

Human rights groups have condemned the use of administrative detention and said it is part of Israel's apartheid practices against Palestinians.

According to Israel Prison Service data, 661 individuals who had been declared unlawful combatants were imprisoned in its facilities as of December 2023.

The figure includes 10 teenage boys, one teenage girl, and 42 adult women.