Israeli soldiers assaulted and injured, Sunday, hundreds of Palestinian political prisoners in the Negev Desert Detention Camp, after the soldiers invaded the detainee’s rooms and tents; at least seven of the wounded detainees were moved to hospitals.
The Maan News Agency has reported that the detainees are held in Sections 3, 5 and 7 of the detention camp, and quoted Israeli media outlets claiming that two soldiers were stabbed, including one who sustained serious wound to his neck.
The tension started after dozens of Israeli special forces soldiers invaded the detainees’ rooms and tents, and started assaulting them while conducting very violent searches.
Several detainees were injured before a few detainees, believed to be members of Hamas, stabbed two soldiers.
The army then started firing dozens of gas bombs, before assaulting and wounding dozens of detainees.
Israeli sources claimed that the soldiers were injured when the prison administration moved all detainees, who are believed to be members or supporters of Hamas, to another section.
The Detainees’ Media Center said the Israeli army turned the prison into what seems to be a battle ground.
It added that the Negev Detention Camp has been witnessing serious Israeli violations and escalation, since last month, when the army installed devices to scramble TV and Radio signals.
There are at least 1300 Palestinian detainees held in the Negev Detention Camp, which was first opened in 1988 after the First Palestinian Intifada started less than a year earlier.
The prison camp was closed after Oslo peace agreement, but Israel reopened it in 2002, after the army conducted its massive invasions across the West Bank; it is located northwest of the Negev Desert, close to the Egyptian border.
