Israeli occupation arrested '90,000 Palestinians since second intifada'

The PLO's  prisoners  affairs has issued a report on Monday documenting that more than 90,000 arrests of Palestinians since the beginning of the second Intifada (also known as al-Aqsa Intifada) in 2000.

According to the report, which was issued on the Intifada's 15th anniversary, the arrests targeted Palestinian men and women of all ages, including patients and senior citizens, who were all subjected to at least one form of physical or psychological torture, abuse, or cruel and degrading treatment.

"Around 12,000 of the total number of arrests were of children less than 18 years old," said the head of the authority Abdul Nasser Farawna, "and nearly 200 of them are still in Israeli prisons".

The report also documented the arrest of 1,200 girls, students, mothers, and Murabitat women, who have taken it upon themselves to "protect" al-Aqsa Mosque. The cases include four women who had to give birth in prison under harsh conditions.

There 25 Palestinian women who are still in prison, including Lina al-Jarbouni, who has been detained since 2002, making her detention the longest amongst the others.

In addition, hundreds of politicians, scholars, media professionals and athletes have also been arrested since the Intifada, as well as more than 65 Palestinian MPs and a number of former ministers.

On the administrative detention policy adopted by Israel against Palestinians, backed by the Shin Bet, Israel's intelligence agency, Farawna said that in the past 15 years, Israel has issued nearly 25,000 administrative detention warrants.

Meanwhile, 480 Palestinians are still in prison under administrative detention, prompting many of them to protest by going on individual and group hunger strikes in the past few years.

Deaths and illness amongst prisoners

Farawna also expressed his concerns about the unprecedented rates of cancer and other serious conditions amongst the prisoners, and the increasing numbers of patients in prison, with more than 1,500 prisoners suffering from different conditions.

Even worse, since 2000, 83 prisoners have died of torture, medical neglect, excessive force, or premeditated murder upon arrest.

Not only did the Israeli authorities resort to oppressive measures and medical neglect against Palestinian prisoner, but they have also deported nearly 290 Palestinians from the West Bank and Jerusalem to Gaza and elsewhere since 2000, whether individually or collectively, mostly as part of a prisoner-swap deal.