Abdul-Nasser Farwana, a Palestinian researcher and former detainee who specializes in detainees affairs, stated that the Israeli occupation is still holding captive more than forty disabled Palestinians.Farawna issued a report on the eve of the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, which is marked on December 3rd each year.
He said that since Israel occupied Palestine, and especially since they occupied the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem in 1967, they have repeatedly attacked, arrested and imprisoned disabled, injured, and ailing Palestinians, and subjected them to harsh living and health conditions.
He added that there are several detainees on wheelchairs, and need specialized attention, in addition to detainees who can barely walk, and others who suffer from serious illnesses, especially cancer, liver diseases, and heart issues.
There are more than 200 Palestinian detainees who died due to the lack of medical attention and torture in Israeli prisons and detention camps.
Some of the detainees died of different diseases, some were shot and wounded before they were arrested, others where shot by the army during attacks against the detainees, and others died due to extreme torture during interrogation.
The number of Palestinians currently imprisoned by Israel is approximately 7,200; the numbers usually vary due to the fact that Israel kidnaps on average five to ten Palestinians daily and sometimes as many as fifteen.
Some of the arrested Palestinians are released while the rest are sent to military courts or directly receive Administrative Detention orders without any charges filed against them. Israel claims it has secret files against the detainees who are sent to Administrative Detention, but such alleged files are not accessible even to the lawyers.
