The head of the Palestinian Ministry Of Detainees’ Census Department , Abdul-Nasser Farawna, who is himself a former detainee, stated that Israel has arrested around 700,000 Palestinians since June 1967. That figure includes tens of thousands of children and over 10,000 women.Farawna also stated that 198 Palestinians died due to torture, medical negligence, while some of them were shot and killed by their arresting officers. Hundreds of detainees died after they were released due to health issues related to their arrest and torture.
The researcher added that the army does not target a specific segment of the society as the illegal arrests target women, children, elderly, students, lawyers, doctors and workers, and that most of the kidnapped Palestinians were tortured.
Approximately 420,000 Palestinians were kidnapped by the army in the period between 1967 and the beginning of the first Intifada in 1987.
The army also conducted 210,000 arrests during the years of the first Intifada, between December 1987 and 1994.
The arrests rate dropped after the Oslo peace agreement of 1994 until September 2000, as Israel conducted 1,700 arrests each year.
But after the second Intifada started in late September 2000 until this day, the army carried more than 70,000 arrests with a rate of 7,000 arrests each year.
Farawna said that there are several factors that affect the increase or decrease in the numbers of arrests as the security situation, and the direct presence of the army in the Palestinian territories affects the number of arrests.
The Palestinian researcher further stated that 198 Palestinians died in Israeli prison, detention and interrogation centers. Most of the detainees died due to torture and lack of medical attention.
73 detainees (36.9%) died in the period between 1967 until December 8, 1987. 42 (21.2%) detainees died in Israeli prisons during the first Intifada in the period between December 8 and mid 1994.
Eight detainees died in Israeli prisons in the period between 1994 until the second Intifada that started in September 2000.
75 detainees (37.9%) died during the al-Aqsa Intifada. 50 of them died having not received adequate medical attention in Israeli prisons, and 7 died due to excessive use of force against them in prisons; this includes the army’s use of lethal fire against them in prison.
These figures do not include hundreds of detainees who died after they were released as they became sick in prison.
Farawna further stated that arrests are still ongoing, and the conditions in Israeli prisons are becoming worse than before, while the number of sick detainees is increasing, including dozens who have serious diseases and health conditions.
Furthermore, Farawna said that the violations against the detainees are escalating, and voiced an appeal to human rights groups to intervene in order to put an end to the ongoing violations carried out by Israel against the detainees and their internationally guaranteed rights.
