9 aug 2019
By Ramona Wadi
Since 1967, 220 Palestinian prisoners have died in Israeli prisons. The latest victim is Nasser Taqatqa, detained in June from his home in Beit Fajjar, accused of purportedly having ties to Hamas.
Taqatqa, age 31, was interrogated by Shin Bet, tortured and placed in solitary confinement.
On Tuesday he was found dead, prompting another wave of anger among Palestinians and much needed focus on the plight of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.
According to Haaretz, Taqaqta was discovered dead in the prison’s mental health center where was taken for medical supervision.
Palestinian media states that he was transferred to different interrogation facilities and constantly placed in solitary confinement. Taqatqa was last seen in Nitzan prison, where it has been said he died in solitary confinement.
Israel has claimed Taqatqa died as a result of a stroke. Meanwhile, the Palestinian Prisoners’ Society declared that autopsy results revealed extreme torture and abuse, leading to Taqatqa’s death.
The Palestinian Foreign Ministry issued a statement saying:
“The martyrdom of Taqatqa in the interrogation cells demand immediate action by the International Criminal Court and the opening of an official investigation into the crimes of the occupying power in order to pursue and prosecute Israeli war criminals.”
Needless to say, this statement fell on deaf ears. No call for justice has emanated from the international community. If the UN fails to take up the call of Palestinian prisoners while they are still alive, a tortured and dead prisoner will present no significance to the organization.
Likewise, the Palestinian Authority’s continuous exploitation of Palestinian prisoners does not help to further its cause. On the contrary, it has facilitated the transfer of many Palestinians to Israeli jails, while the PA security services act like Israel’s extension in the occupied West Bank.
The PA has no foundation whatsoever to speak about the rights of Palestinian prisoners. It is only a step ahead of the international community in terms of speaking out, due to perfunctory obligation which the UN can conveniently sidestep.
Meanwhile, the growing rift between the PA and the Palestinian people will continue to displace attention away from the Palestinian prisoners’ plight. Political authority is the determining factor which singles out the people as perpetual victims without protection from their leaders which is, of course, a favorable scenario for Israel.
Away from the cloistered arena of human rights jargon, there has yet to be a single instance where such rights can claim a single, irreversible victory.
The media reports reactions – prisoners banging on doors and refusing meals at the news of a Palestinian prisoner’s death – but what do such reports tell us about the prisoners in Israeli jails? Nothing.
The collective efforts at stifling their voices, even to the point of murder through torture and medical negligence, is provoking an oblivion which is tantamount to a loss of identity, at least when it comes to perception from the outside.
With the exception of Palestinians in close proximity with Israeli forces, who spares a thought for Palestinian prisoners before they are turned into temporary headlines by Israel’s colonial violence?
– Ramona Wadi is a staff writer for Middle East Monitor, where this article was originally published. She contributed this article to the Palestine Chronicle.
Since 1967, 220 Palestinian prisoners have died in Israeli prisons. The latest victim is Nasser Taqatqa, detained in June from his home in Beit Fajjar, accused of purportedly having ties to Hamas.
Taqatqa, age 31, was interrogated by Shin Bet, tortured and placed in solitary confinement.
On Tuesday he was found dead, prompting another wave of anger among Palestinians and much needed focus on the plight of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.
According to Haaretz, Taqaqta was discovered dead in the prison’s mental health center where was taken for medical supervision.
Palestinian media states that he was transferred to different interrogation facilities and constantly placed in solitary confinement. Taqatqa was last seen in Nitzan prison, where it has been said he died in solitary confinement.
Israel has claimed Taqatqa died as a result of a stroke. Meanwhile, the Palestinian Prisoners’ Society declared that autopsy results revealed extreme torture and abuse, leading to Taqatqa’s death.
The Palestinian Foreign Ministry issued a statement saying:
“The martyrdom of Taqatqa in the interrogation cells demand immediate action by the International Criminal Court and the opening of an official investigation into the crimes of the occupying power in order to pursue and prosecute Israeli war criminals.”
Needless to say, this statement fell on deaf ears. No call for justice has emanated from the international community. If the UN fails to take up the call of Palestinian prisoners while they are still alive, a tortured and dead prisoner will present no significance to the organization.
Likewise, the Palestinian Authority’s continuous exploitation of Palestinian prisoners does not help to further its cause. On the contrary, it has facilitated the transfer of many Palestinians to Israeli jails, while the PA security services act like Israel’s extension in the occupied West Bank.
The PA has no foundation whatsoever to speak about the rights of Palestinian prisoners. It is only a step ahead of the international community in terms of speaking out, due to perfunctory obligation which the UN can conveniently sidestep.
Meanwhile, the growing rift between the PA and the Palestinian people will continue to displace attention away from the Palestinian prisoners’ plight. Political authority is the determining factor which singles out the people as perpetual victims without protection from their leaders which is, of course, a favorable scenario for Israel.
Away from the cloistered arena of human rights jargon, there has yet to be a single instance where such rights can claim a single, irreversible victory.
The media reports reactions – prisoners banging on doors and refusing meals at the news of a Palestinian prisoner’s death – but what do such reports tell us about the prisoners in Israeli jails? Nothing.
The collective efforts at stifling their voices, even to the point of murder through torture and medical negligence, is provoking an oblivion which is tantamount to a loss of identity, at least when it comes to perception from the outside.
With the exception of Palestinians in close proximity with Israeli forces, who spares a thought for Palestinian prisoners before they are turned into temporary headlines by Israel’s colonial violence?
– Ramona Wadi is a staff writer for Middle East Monitor, where this article was originally published. She contributed this article to the Palestine Chronicle.
Israeli soldiers abducted, on Friday at dawn, the coordinator of the Popular Committee against the Annexation Wall and Colonies, in Kufur Qaddoum town, east of the northern West Bank city of Qalqilia, while crossing al-Karama Border Crossing between the West Bank and Jordan.
The Popular Committee in Kufur Qaddoum said the soldiers abducted Morad Eshteiwi while he was crossing back into the West Bank, after visiting family in Jordan.
Kufur Qaddoum holds weekly processions against the Annexation Wall and Colonies, and in protest to the ongoing closure of the town’s main road for the past sixteen years, and is subject to constant invasions and violations.
In addition, groups of illegal Israeli colonialist settlers attacked, on Friday at dawn, many Palestinian homes and cars in several areas in Bethlehem governorate, south of occupied East Jerusalem, in the West Bank.
On Friday afternoon, the soldiers invaded Beit Fajjar town, south of Bethlehem, searched and ransacked several homes before abducting a young Palestinian man and confiscating his car. video
It is worth mentioning that the army has been conducting massive invasions and violent searches of homes and property after the body of an Israeli soldier was found near Efrat colony, illegally built on Palestinian lands, south of Bethlehem.
After the soldier’s body was found, the army installed many roadblocks in the area, and imposed a strict siege on Beit Fajjar, before initiating extensive and very violent searches of homes and property and interrogated dozens of residents.
The soldiers also confiscated surveillance tapes and equipment from many homes and stores, after searching them.
The searches also targeted many Palestinian villages and communities in areas north of Hebron, in the southern part of the West Bank.
The Popular Committee in Kufur Qaddoum said the soldiers abducted Morad Eshteiwi while he was crossing back into the West Bank, after visiting family in Jordan.
Kufur Qaddoum holds weekly processions against the Annexation Wall and Colonies, and in protest to the ongoing closure of the town’s main road for the past sixteen years, and is subject to constant invasions and violations.
In addition, groups of illegal Israeli colonialist settlers attacked, on Friday at dawn, many Palestinian homes and cars in several areas in Bethlehem governorate, south of occupied East Jerusalem, in the West Bank.
On Friday afternoon, the soldiers invaded Beit Fajjar town, south of Bethlehem, searched and ransacked several homes before abducting a young Palestinian man and confiscating his car. video
It is worth mentioning that the army has been conducting massive invasions and violent searches of homes and property after the body of an Israeli soldier was found near Efrat colony, illegally built on Palestinian lands, south of Bethlehem.
After the soldier’s body was found, the army installed many roadblocks in the area, and imposed a strict siege on Beit Fajjar, before initiating extensive and very violent searches of homes and property and interrogated dozens of residents.
The soldiers also confiscated surveillance tapes and equipment from many homes and stores, after searching them.
The searches also targeted many Palestinian villages and communities in areas north of Hebron, in the southern part of the West Bank.
Israeli soldiers invaded, on Friday afternoon, Beit Fajjar town, south of Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank, searched and ransacked several homes before abducting a young Palestinian man and confiscating his car.
Media sources said the soldiers violently searched homes in the town and interrogated many Palestinians while inspecting their ID cards.
They added that the soldiers abducted Ammar Mansour Thawabta, 29, and took him to the nearby Etzion military base and security center. The soldiers also towed his car and took it to Etzion.
It is worth mentioning that the army has been conducting massive invasions and violent searches of homes and property after the body of an Israeli soldier was found near Efrat colony, illegally built on Palestinian lands, south of Bethlehem.
After the soldier’s body was found, the army installed many roadblocks in the area, and imposed a strict siege on Beit Fajjar, before initiating extensive and very violent searches of homes and property and interrogated dozens of residents.
The soldiers also confiscated surveillance tapes and equipment from many homes and stores, after searching them.
The searches also targeted many Palestinian villages and communities in areas north of Hebron, in the southern part of the West Bank.
Media sources said the soldiers violently searched homes in the town and interrogated many Palestinians while inspecting their ID cards.
They added that the soldiers abducted Ammar Mansour Thawabta, 29, and took him to the nearby Etzion military base and security center. The soldiers also towed his car and took it to Etzion.
It is worth mentioning that the army has been conducting massive invasions and violent searches of homes and property after the body of an Israeli soldier was found near Efrat colony, illegally built on Palestinian lands, south of Bethlehem.
After the soldier’s body was found, the army installed many roadblocks in the area, and imposed a strict siege on Beit Fajjar, before initiating extensive and very violent searches of homes and property and interrogated dozens of residents.
The soldiers also confiscated surveillance tapes and equipment from many homes and stores, after searching them.
The searches also targeted many Palestinian villages and communities in areas north of Hebron, in the southern part of the West Bank.
On July 29, 4-year-old Muhammad Rabi’ Elayyan was reportedly summoned for interrogation by the Israeli police in occupied Jerusalem.
The news, originally reported by the Palestinian News Agency (WAFA), was later denied by the Israeli police, likely to lessen the impact of the PR disaster that followed.
The Israelis are not denying the story in its entirety, but are rather arguing that it was not the boy, Muhammad, who was summoned, but his father, Rabi’, who was called into the Israeli police station in Salah Eddin Street in Jerusalem, to be questioned regarding his son’s actions.
The child was accused of hurling a stone at Israeli occupation soldiers in the Issawiyeh neighborhood, a constant target for Israeli violence. The neighborhood has also been the tragic site for house demolition under the pretext that Palestinians there are building without permits.
Of course, the vast majority of Palestinian applications to build in Issawiyeh, or anywhere in Jerusalem, are denied, while Jewish settlers are allowed to build on Palestinian land, unhindered.
With this in mind, Issawiyeh is no stranger to the ridiculous and unlawful behavior of the Israeli army. On July 6, a mother from the beleaguered neighborhood was arrested as a means to put pressure on her teenage son, Mahmoud Ebeid, to turn himself in. The mother “was taken by Israeli police as a bargaining chip,” Mondoweiss reported, quoting the Jerusalem-based Wadi Hileh Information Center.
Israeli authorities are justified in feeling embarrassed by the whole episode concerning the 4-year-old boy, thus the attempt at poking holes in the story. The fact is WAFA’s correspondent in Jerusalem had, indeed, verified that the warrant was in Muhammad’s, not Rabi’s, name.
While some news sources bought into the Israeli ‘hasbara’, readily conveying the Israeli cries of ‘fake news’, one must bear in mind that this event is hardly a one-off incident.
For Palestinians, such news of detaining, beating and killing children is one of the most consistent features of the Israeli occupation since 1967.
Just one day after the summoning of Muhammad, Israeli authorities also interrogated the father of a 6-year-old child, Qais Firas Obaid, from the same neighborhood of Issawiyeh, after accusing the boy of throwing a juice carton at Israeli soldiers.
“According to local sources in Issawiyeh the (Israeli) military sent Qais’ family an official summons to come to the interrogation center in Jerusalem on Wednesday (July 31) at 8 am,” reported the International Middle East Media Center (IMEMC). In one photo, the little boy is pictured while holding up to a camera the Israeli military order written in Hebrew.
The stories of Muhammad and Qais are the norm, not the exception. According to the prisoners’ advocacy group, Addameer, there are currently 250 children in Israeli prisons, with approximately 700 Palestinian children going through the Israeli military court system every single year.
“The most common charge levied against children is throwing stones, a crime that is punishable under military law by up to 20 years,” Addameer reports.
Indeed, Israel has so much to be embarrassed about. Since the start of the Second Intifada, the popular uprising of 2000, some 12,000 Palestinian children have been detained and interrogated by the Israeli army.
But it is not only children and their families that are targeted by the Israeli military, but also those who advocate on their behalf. On July 30, Palestinian lawyer, Tariq Barghouth, was sentenced to 13 years in prison by an Israeli military court for “firing at Israeli buses and at security forces on a number of occasions.”
As flimsy as the accusation of a well-known lawyer firing at ‘buses’ may sound, it is important to note that Barghouth is well-regarded for his defense of many Palestinian children in court. Barghouth was a constant source of headache for the Israeli military court system for his strong defense of the child, Ahmad Manasra.
Manasra, then 13-years of age, was tried and indicted in Israeli military court for allegedly stabbing and wounding two Israelis near the illegal Jewish settlement of Pisgat Ze’ev in Occupied Jerusalem. Manasra’s cousin, Hassan, 15 was killed on the spot, while wounded Ahmad was tried in court as an adult.
It was the lawyer, Barghouth, who challenged and denounced the Israeli court for the harsh interrogation and for secretly filming the wounded child as he was tied to his hospital bed.
On August 2, 2016, Israel passed a law that allows authorities to “imprison a minor convicted of serious crimes such as murder, attempted murder or manslaughter even if he or she is under the age of 14.”
The law was conveniently crafted to deal with cases like that of Ahmad Manasra, who was sentenced on November 7, 2016 (three months after the law was approved) to 12 years in prison.
Manasra’s case, the leaked videos of his abuse by Israeli interrogators and his harsh sentence placed more international focus on the plight of Palestinian children in the Israeli military court system.
“Israeli interrogators are seen relying on verbal abuse, intimidation and threats to apparently inflict mental suffering for the purpose of obtaining a confession,” Brad Parker, attorney and international advocacy officer at Defense for Children- Palestine, said at the time.
The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, of which Israel, as of 1991, is a signatory, “prohibits torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.” Yet, according to Parker, “ill treatment and torture of Palestinian children arrested by Israeli military and police is widespread and systematic.”
So systematic, in fact, that videos and reports of arresting very young Palestinian children are almost a staple on social media platforms concerned with Palestine and Palestinian rights.
The sad reality is that Muhammad Elayyan, 4, and Qais Obaid, 6, and many children like them, have become a target of Israeli soldiers and Jewish settlers throughout the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
This horrendous reality must not be tolerated by the international community. Israeli crimes against Palestinian children must be effectively confronted as Israel, its inhumane laws and iniquitous military courts must not be allowed to continue their uncontested brutalization of Palestinian children.
Join the debate on Facebook
More articles by:Ramzy Baroud
Ramzy Baroud is a journalist, author and editor of Palestine Chronicle. His latest book is The Last Earth: A Palestinian Story (Pluto Press, London, 2018). He earned a Ph.D. in Palestine Studies from the University of Exeter and is a Non-Resident Scholar at Orfalea Center for Global and International Studies, UCSB.
The news, originally reported by the Palestinian News Agency (WAFA), was later denied by the Israeli police, likely to lessen the impact of the PR disaster that followed.
The Israelis are not denying the story in its entirety, but are rather arguing that it was not the boy, Muhammad, who was summoned, but his father, Rabi’, who was called into the Israeli police station in Salah Eddin Street in Jerusalem, to be questioned regarding his son’s actions.
The child was accused of hurling a stone at Israeli occupation soldiers in the Issawiyeh neighborhood, a constant target for Israeli violence. The neighborhood has also been the tragic site for house demolition under the pretext that Palestinians there are building without permits.
Of course, the vast majority of Palestinian applications to build in Issawiyeh, or anywhere in Jerusalem, are denied, while Jewish settlers are allowed to build on Palestinian land, unhindered.
With this in mind, Issawiyeh is no stranger to the ridiculous and unlawful behavior of the Israeli army. On July 6, a mother from the beleaguered neighborhood was arrested as a means to put pressure on her teenage son, Mahmoud Ebeid, to turn himself in. The mother “was taken by Israeli police as a bargaining chip,” Mondoweiss reported, quoting the Jerusalem-based Wadi Hileh Information Center.
Israeli authorities are justified in feeling embarrassed by the whole episode concerning the 4-year-old boy, thus the attempt at poking holes in the story. The fact is WAFA’s correspondent in Jerusalem had, indeed, verified that the warrant was in Muhammad’s, not Rabi’s, name.
While some news sources bought into the Israeli ‘hasbara’, readily conveying the Israeli cries of ‘fake news’, one must bear in mind that this event is hardly a one-off incident.
For Palestinians, such news of detaining, beating and killing children is one of the most consistent features of the Israeli occupation since 1967.
Just one day after the summoning of Muhammad, Israeli authorities also interrogated the father of a 6-year-old child, Qais Firas Obaid, from the same neighborhood of Issawiyeh, after accusing the boy of throwing a juice carton at Israeli soldiers.
“According to local sources in Issawiyeh the (Israeli) military sent Qais’ family an official summons to come to the interrogation center in Jerusalem on Wednesday (July 31) at 8 am,” reported the International Middle East Media Center (IMEMC). In one photo, the little boy is pictured while holding up to a camera the Israeli military order written in Hebrew.
The stories of Muhammad and Qais are the norm, not the exception. According to the prisoners’ advocacy group, Addameer, there are currently 250 children in Israeli prisons, with approximately 700 Palestinian children going through the Israeli military court system every single year.
“The most common charge levied against children is throwing stones, a crime that is punishable under military law by up to 20 years,” Addameer reports.
Indeed, Israel has so much to be embarrassed about. Since the start of the Second Intifada, the popular uprising of 2000, some 12,000 Palestinian children have been detained and interrogated by the Israeli army.
But it is not only children and their families that are targeted by the Israeli military, but also those who advocate on their behalf. On July 30, Palestinian lawyer, Tariq Barghouth, was sentenced to 13 years in prison by an Israeli military court for “firing at Israeli buses and at security forces on a number of occasions.”
As flimsy as the accusation of a well-known lawyer firing at ‘buses’ may sound, it is important to note that Barghouth is well-regarded for his defense of many Palestinian children in court. Barghouth was a constant source of headache for the Israeli military court system for his strong defense of the child, Ahmad Manasra.
Manasra, then 13-years of age, was tried and indicted in Israeli military court for allegedly stabbing and wounding two Israelis near the illegal Jewish settlement of Pisgat Ze’ev in Occupied Jerusalem. Manasra’s cousin, Hassan, 15 was killed on the spot, while wounded Ahmad was tried in court as an adult.
It was the lawyer, Barghouth, who challenged and denounced the Israeli court for the harsh interrogation and for secretly filming the wounded child as he was tied to his hospital bed.
On August 2, 2016, Israel passed a law that allows authorities to “imprison a minor convicted of serious crimes such as murder, attempted murder or manslaughter even if he or she is under the age of 14.”
The law was conveniently crafted to deal with cases like that of Ahmad Manasra, who was sentenced on November 7, 2016 (three months after the law was approved) to 12 years in prison.
Manasra’s case, the leaked videos of his abuse by Israeli interrogators and his harsh sentence placed more international focus on the plight of Palestinian children in the Israeli military court system.
“Israeli interrogators are seen relying on verbal abuse, intimidation and threats to apparently inflict mental suffering for the purpose of obtaining a confession,” Brad Parker, attorney and international advocacy officer at Defense for Children- Palestine, said at the time.
The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, of which Israel, as of 1991, is a signatory, “prohibits torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.” Yet, according to Parker, “ill treatment and torture of Palestinian children arrested by Israeli military and police is widespread and systematic.”
So systematic, in fact, that videos and reports of arresting very young Palestinian children are almost a staple on social media platforms concerned with Palestine and Palestinian rights.
The sad reality is that Muhammad Elayyan, 4, and Qais Obaid, 6, and many children like them, have become a target of Israeli soldiers and Jewish settlers throughout the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
This horrendous reality must not be tolerated by the international community. Israeli crimes against Palestinian children must be effectively confronted as Israel, its inhumane laws and iniquitous military courts must not be allowed to continue their uncontested brutalization of Palestinian children.
Join the debate on Facebook
More articles by:Ramzy Baroud
Ramzy Baroud is a journalist, author and editor of Palestine Chronicle. His latest book is The Last Earth: A Palestinian Story (Pluto Press, London, 2018). He earned a Ph.D. in Palestine Studies from the University of Exeter and is a Non-Resident Scholar at Orfalea Center for Global and International Studies, UCSB.
The Israeli occupation forces late Thursday evening arrested a Palestinian child in Jerusalem.
A local source reported that the Israeli forces arrested Mohammed Najib, 11, after violently beating him in the Old City of Jerusalem. video
Meanwhile, the Israeli forces raided the house of Sheikh Najeh Bkirat, deputy director of the Islamic Awqaf in Jerusalem, and handed him an interrogation order.
A local source reported that the Israeli forces arrested Mohammed Najib, 11, after violently beating him in the Old City of Jerusalem. video
Meanwhile, the Israeli forces raided the house of Sheikh Najeh Bkirat, deputy director of the Islamic Awqaf in Jerusalem, and handed him an interrogation order.
8 aug 2019
Many Israeli soldiers and police officers invaded, Thursday, a Palestinian home in the al-‘Isawiya town, in occupied East Jerusalem, after destroying the main door of the property, and abducted a child in front of his brothers.
Mohammad Abu al-Hummus, a member of the Follow-up Committee in al-‘Isawiya, said the soldiers used tools to damage the front door of a home, owned by Wa’el Abu Hadwan al-Fakhouri, and invaded it, causing severe anxiety attacks among seven children, who were alone in the property without their parents. video
The children were trying to open the heavy door for the soldiers to enter the property without causing damage, but the army went ahead and destroyed it.
The soldiers then abducted Saleh al-Fakhouri, 13, after placing him in a car driven by undercover officers.
Razan al-Jo’ba, a lawyer of Wadi Hilweh Information Center in Silwan (Silwanic), said the soldiers abducted the child, and took him to the police in Salaheddin Street, in Jerusalem, after accusing him of throwing stones at army jeeps.
It is worth mentioning that the soldiers frequently invade the home and stores, owned by the family, and conduct very violent searches, in addition to imposing fines.
The family owns their home, stores and lands in the area since the year 1954, before Israel occupied East Jerusalem in 1967, but are facing constant invasions, violent searches and attempts to confiscate their property and force them out.
Mohammad Abu al-Hummus, a member of the Follow-up Committee in al-‘Isawiya, said the soldiers used tools to damage the front door of a home, owned by Wa’el Abu Hadwan al-Fakhouri, and invaded it, causing severe anxiety attacks among seven children, who were alone in the property without their parents. video
The children were trying to open the heavy door for the soldiers to enter the property without causing damage, but the army went ahead and destroyed it.
The soldiers then abducted Saleh al-Fakhouri, 13, after placing him in a car driven by undercover officers.
Razan al-Jo’ba, a lawyer of Wadi Hilweh Information Center in Silwan (Silwanic), said the soldiers abducted the child, and took him to the police in Salaheddin Street, in Jerusalem, after accusing him of throwing stones at army jeeps.
It is worth mentioning that the soldiers frequently invade the home and stores, owned by the family, and conduct very violent searches, in addition to imposing fines.
The family owns their home, stores and lands in the area since the year 1954, before Israel occupied East Jerusalem in 1967, but are facing constant invasions, violent searches and attempts to confiscate their property and force them out.
The Israeli army detained in overnight and early morning raids today eight Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem, said the Palestinian Prisoner Society.
Three were detained in the Jenin district, two from Kufr Nimeh and one from Jalazon refugee camp in the Ramallah district, and two from the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Issawiyeh.
Reports from Jalazon camp said residents clashed with soldiers when they raided the camp to make the arrest. The soldiers showered the camp with teargas causing many suffocation cases.
Eight Palestinians Abducted by Israeli Forces in Early Morning Raids on Thursday
In the pre-dawn hours on Thursday, Israeli troops invaded various parts of the West Bank and abducted eight Palestinians from their homes in Jenin, Ramallah, Al-Bireh and Jerusalem.
According to the Palestinian Prisoners’ Society, the Israeli occupation forces abducted three Palestinians from Jenin, in the northern part of the West Bank: Mohammad Hanaysha, Hadi Sabah Nazzal and Fadi Zakarneh.
In addition, the Israeli soldiers invaded Ramallah and Al-Bireh in the central West Bank and abducted: Omar Issa Eshtayeh and Oraib Baker Nasr, both from Kafr Na’ma town and Thaer Samir Nakhleh from Jalazoun refugee camp..
The Israeli occupation forces also arrested Qusai ‘Abd Elayyan and Husam Sameeh’ Olayan from the town of al-‘Issawiya in Jerusalem.
Three were detained in the Jenin district, two from Kufr Nimeh and one from Jalazon refugee camp in the Ramallah district, and two from the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Issawiyeh.
Reports from Jalazon camp said residents clashed with soldiers when they raided the camp to make the arrest. The soldiers showered the camp with teargas causing many suffocation cases.
Eight Palestinians Abducted by Israeli Forces in Early Morning Raids on Thursday
In the pre-dawn hours on Thursday, Israeli troops invaded various parts of the West Bank and abducted eight Palestinians from their homes in Jenin, Ramallah, Al-Bireh and Jerusalem.
According to the Palestinian Prisoners’ Society, the Israeli occupation forces abducted three Palestinians from Jenin, in the northern part of the West Bank: Mohammad Hanaysha, Hadi Sabah Nazzal and Fadi Zakarneh.
In addition, the Israeli soldiers invaded Ramallah and Al-Bireh in the central West Bank and abducted: Omar Issa Eshtayeh and Oraib Baker Nasr, both from Kafr Na’ma town and Thaer Samir Nakhleh from Jalazoun refugee camp..
The Israeli occupation forces also arrested Qusai ‘Abd Elayyan and Husam Sameeh’ Olayan from the town of al-‘Issawiya in Jerusalem.
Following talks for over one hours, a preliminary agreement has been reached between Palestinian prisoners and the administration of Ofer jail.
Under the agreement, the prison administration agreed to return all the transferred prisoners from the jails of Hasharon, Hadarim and Gilboa.
Six of those prisoners, who were recently transferred from Ofer jail, will be taken to Negev jail where they will stay temporarily before allowing them to return to Ofer again.
According to the Palestinian Prisoner Society, the representatives of Ofer prisoners told the prison administration that their protest steps would continue on Friday and the first day of Eid al-Adha in order to ensure that it would honor what had been agreed upon.
On August 4, Israeli prison forces stormed prisoners’ rooms in sections 20 and 19, violently assaulted them and transferred many of them to isolation cells and other jails.
Among the detainees who were assaulted in those sections were children under age 18.
Such practices prompted other prisoner in Ofer jail to refuse to take meals served to them by jailers or practice their routine prison activities.
The prison administration, in turn, decided to shut down the commissary and the laundry room as part of oppressive measures against the prisoners.
Under the agreement, the prison administration agreed to return all the transferred prisoners from the jails of Hasharon, Hadarim and Gilboa.
Six of those prisoners, who were recently transferred from Ofer jail, will be taken to Negev jail where they will stay temporarily before allowing them to return to Ofer again.
According to the Palestinian Prisoner Society, the representatives of Ofer prisoners told the prison administration that their protest steps would continue on Friday and the first day of Eid al-Adha in order to ensure that it would honor what had been agreed upon.
On August 4, Israeli prison forces stormed prisoners’ rooms in sections 20 and 19, violently assaulted them and transferred many of them to isolation cells and other jails.
Among the detainees who were assaulted in those sections were children under age 18.
Such practices prompted other prisoner in Ofer jail to refuse to take meals served to them by jailers or practice their routine prison activities.
The prison administration, in turn, decided to shut down the commissary and the laundry room as part of oppressive measures against the prisoners.
Former minister of detainees’ affairs Wasfi Qabha has called for necessarily releasing Palestinian prisoner Bassam as-Sayeh, affirming that he suffers from three types of cancer and has gone into a coma.
In press remarks, Qabha urged the Palestinian diplomatic community, the Palestinian Commission for Detainees’ and Ex-Detainees’ Affairs, the Palestinian Prisoner Society and all concerned parties to intervene and work for the immediate release of prisoner Sayeh before it is too late.
The former minister said that prisoner Sayeh was supposed to receive an early release verdict from an Israeli court several months ago, but there was Israeli procrastination in this regard.
In press remarks, Qabha urged the Palestinian diplomatic community, the Palestinian Commission for Detainees’ and Ex-Detainees’ Affairs, the Palestinian Prisoner Society and all concerned parties to intervene and work for the immediate release of prisoner Sayeh before it is too late.
The former minister said that prisoner Sayeh was supposed to receive an early release verdict from an Israeli court several months ago, but there was Israeli procrastination in this regard.
