RAMALLAH, May 12, 2025 (WAFA) — Israeli occupation authorities carried out 530 detentions across the West Bank in April, including 60 children and 18 women, as part of a systematic detention campaign amid a large-scale military assault on the West Bank and the ongoing genocide in the Gaza Strip.
The cities of Jenin and Tulkarm bore the brunt of detentions and assaults, marked by violent field operations that included executions, forced displacement and widespread destruction of infrastructure. Hundreds of Palestinians across the West Bank, including women and children, were subjected to field detentions and interrogations, endured physical and psychological abuse, and were used as hostages and human shields as part of a deliberate escalation policy.
With April’s figures, the total number of detentions in the West Bank since October 7, 2023, has risen to approximately 17,000, including those who were later released. This number does not include detainees from the Gaza Strip, whose figures are estimated to be in the thousands.
Human rights organizations, including the Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs, the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society (PPS), and Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association, reported an unprecedented surge in administrative detention orders during April. By early May 2025, the number of administrative detainees stands at 3,577, including more than 100 children, marking the highest recorded total since the onset of the occupation.
In April, two Palestinians have died in Israeli custody, one on April 16, 2025, from Nablus, and the other on April 20, 2025, from Bethlehem.
Families of detainees from Gaza were also notified of their relatives’ deaths in Israeli prisons, without receiving any clarification or confirmation from official Israeli sources.
Testimonies from detainees during lawyer visits in April revealed that Israeli authorities continued to perpetrate a range of violations inside prisons, including physical and psychological torture, deliberate starvation, and medical neglect.
The outbreak of scabies stands as a stark example of intentional neglect, especially in Naqab and Megiddo prisons, amidst growing calls for immediate action from the international community, particularly the World Health Organization.
Autopsy results of the minor detainee Walid Ahmad, who died in Israeli custody in March, revealed that deliberate starvation was the primary cause of death, emphasizing that the occupation committed an organized crime against prisoners, especially children.
Currently, there are 35 female prisoners held in Damon Prison, including two who are five months pregnant and one who is battling cancer. They are enduring harsh conditions, such as collective isolation, deprivation of basic necessities, enforced hunger, and deliberate medical neglect.
As of early May 2025, at least 400 children have been detained, including more than 100 held in administrative detention. They are subjected to various forms of abuse, including torture, mistreatment, starvation, and the denial of education and healthcare.
Prisoners' associations have warned that time has become an existential threat to the lives of thousands of detainees, due to the ongoing crimes and the lack of meaningful international intervention. The associations continue to urgently call for genuine international action to end the violations being committed against Palestinian detainees in Israeli prisons.
T.R.
