In an official report, the Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that Israeli soldiers took 600 Palestinian residents prisoners since the abduction of the Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit from a military post in the southern Gaza Strip last month.
The minister added that a total of 10,073 detainees are currently imprisoned in 30 prisons, detention facilities and interrogation centers.
Following the capture of Shalit on June 25, Israeli soldiers carried out wide scale invasions in the West Bank and Jerusalem, taking a total of 600 Palestinians as prisoners.
Among the arrestees are 27 elected legislators with the Palestinian Legislative Council, and 7 Hamas cabinet ministers, the ministry reported.
Also, the ministry added that 31 members of the Palestinian police and security force are among the arrestees. They were taken prisoner after the army invaded the West Bank city of Nablus, surrounded and attacked the Palestinian security headquarters.
Over the past month, troops carried at least 142 raids into the West Bank, and also captured twenty Palestinians from the Gaza Strip. Two children identified as Abdul-Karim Jom’a Al Soufy, 17, As’ad Mohammad Al Soufy, 15, are among the twenty residents who were taken prisoner by the army.
A total of 62 children were taken prisoner by Israel in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, and east of Jerusalem over the past month. Two of the children, identified as Amir Abu Sbeitan and Mahmoud Taqaqta, are only twelve years old.
In the West Bank city of Hebron, soldiers abducted a woman identified as Amal Mahmoud Abu Hashhash, from Al Fawwar refugee camp, and a mentally disabled resident, identified as Mohammad Sobhy Kamel.
Moreover, Professor Issam Al Ashqar, 50, was taken prisoner by Israeli forces during an invasion of Nablus. Al Ashqar works at Al Najar University in Nablus, and suffers from high blood pressure. Several days after his abduction, he was transferred to an Israeli hospital due to a serious deterioration of his health condition.
International human rights groups have long condemned Israel’s policy of taking Palestinians prisoner and holding them for long periods without trial, noting that these detentions violate international humanitarian law, and the requirements of the Fourth Geneva Convention for occupying powers.
