Flagrant violations have been committed against detainees by the occupation authorities

Critical escalation of suppression and attacks has been implemented against the Palestinians by the Israeli occupation forces on May 2021, especially with the incidents of Al-Amoud Gate in Jerusalem in 13/4/2021. Occupation authorities started to prevent Palestinians from being existent in that area, in coincidence with the forcible displacement and ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in Shiekh Jarrah neighborhood.  

The confrontation escalated and many attacks and suppression acts have been monitored, including a huge campaign of arrests which increased with the aggression on Gaza Strip that lasted for 11 days. These incidents pushed the Palestinians everywhere to protest and confront the policies of the occupation and its flagrant violations.

This is not the first time for the Palestinians to face such an escalation, attacks and systematic arrest cases, which were of the tools used to suppress and attempt of Palestinians to attain freedom and self-determination.

The years of 2015 constituted a turning point in detainees' cause, especially in the increasing number of detention cases. This phase witnessed many violations that were documented by many organizations, in addition to arresting journalists, activists and citizens who contributed in revealing these violations.  

According to detainees' Institutions and Human Rights Organizations (the Commission of Detainees and Ex-detainees' Affairs, the Palestinian Society Prisoner's Club, Al Dameer Association for Human Rights and Wadi Hilweh Information Center) pointed out that the Israeli authorities have arrested 3100 Palestinians on May 2021 from different cities, the highest of which was the occupied lands of 48 with (2000) detention cases, including (291) children.

Detention cases were accompanied by flagrant violations against detainees and their families, where (170) indictments have been filed against detainees, and the charge was participating in demonstrations that refuse the policies of the occupation.

Occupation's devices and Israeli settlers contributed in the intimidation of Palestinians, through storming their houses, destroying their belongings, shooting them with live ammunition and rubber bullets, in addition to the physical attack against them.

As a result of the incidents in the occupied lands of 48, a huge campaign of arrests was implemented in all cities, villages and camps in the West Bank. The institutions recorded (1100) arrest cases in the West Bank, including (180) minors, and (42) women, and the highest rate of arrest cases was in Jerusalem with (677) cases.

Moreover, the violations expanded to include candidates for the Legislative Council Elections, where (6) candidates have been arrested, in addition to two former representatives of the Legislative Council.

(200) orders of administrative detention have been issued, including (116) new orders.

There are (5300) Palestinian detainees who are currently held in Israeli prisons, including (40) women, (250) minors and (81) of them are from the occupied lands of 48, in addition to (520) administrative detainees.

The report reviews many central issues and violations which were implemented by the occupation authorities during the current confrontations, such as:

The occupied lands of 1948: forging facts and fabricating charges

The Israeli police arrested the journalist Raafat Abu Ayesh (27 years) from Negev, while doing his job in covering a stand for Palestinian students at Beersheba University, who were protesting against the attacks in Jerusalem. They were attacked by extremist Jews, who threatened to kill them. Ayesh said that they called the police to protect them, but the police arrested two of the Palestinian students.

He also said that he was attacked, beaten and arrested, and then they took him to Ashkelon interrogation center, where he remained for 3 days.

He was accused of attacking a settler and burning his car, in addition to joining a "terrorist faction".  They released him after three days of investigations and reviewing the cameras.

Ayesh was subjected to many violations such as: fabricating charges against him, tying him to the chair, long hours of interrogation, meeting his lawyer on Zoom App, extending his arrest to five days and threatening him to destroy his life.

Chasing elections' candidates: undermining the role of politicians and activists

The occupation authorities have arrested the candidate of the Legislative Council elections, the former detainee Yousef Qazaz, after two months of releasing him in 21/3/2021. They stormed his house in Dura/ Hebron in 20/5/2021 and destroyed the door and the belongings of his house.

It is worthy to mention that he is a former detainee, who served 5 years in prison, including 18 months and other 24 months under the administrative detention. He suffers from several diseases and needs medication, but the occupation authorities did not allow him to take any medication.

 

Torturing children: 13-year-old children are under arrest

The Israeli forces arrested (180) minors from the West Bank on May 2020, where torture acts against children were documented by field researchers.

The Israeli forces arrested the child G. A while he was in a garden in Ramallah, near Beit Eil settlement, where a soldier attacked and beat him with his rifle on the head five times. Another soldier hit him on the pelvic area which caused a severe pain. In addition, they sprayed pepper gas in his right eye.

During his detention process, the Israeli forces tortured him and ordered him to lie on the ground and handcuffed him with plastic ties. They took him to Beit Eil militant camp and blindfolded his eyes, and then took him to Benjamin police station for 3 hours for interrogation.

They threw him out of the car and hit him on his neck and head, and then he found out that he is at Hezma/Jerusalem.

 

Maskoubya prison: a witness on torture crimes

The name of Maskouya prison became a witness, after the escalation acts implemented by the Israeli authorities, on tens of detainees who were subjected to physical and psychological torture.

Case in point: the detainee Jalal Jabareen (36 years) from Saer/ Hebron

Jabareen was arrested from his house in 14/5/2021, after forcing him to take off his clothes and search his house. They took him in a militant vehicle to Keryat Arba Settlement, and he was beaten all the way. They transferred him to an area near Itzion militant camp and continued the attack against him. He was then transferred to Itzion interrogation center and forced him to sign a paper that acquits the soldiers from attacking him, but he refused.

He said that he got transferred at the same day to Maskoubya interrogation center, where he was subjected to torture for ten days. They put him under interrogation for (38) hours continuously, and prevented him from sleep and eating proper food. He also was deprived of meeting his lawyer.

 

Mariam Afifi: detention and torture, and released without conditions

The occupation forces have arrested Mariam (26 years) in 8/5/2021 at 10:30 pm while she was at Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood. She saw the soldiers attacking a girl and she went to help her, and when the soldiers saw this they attacked and push her and tried to pull her hijab. Many soldiers attacked her and started to beat and kick her all over her body, and then they handcuffed and dragged her on the ground and transferred her to a police station, where she remained for the next day.

They transferred her again to Makoubya and put her in a cold cell, and when she asked to turn off the Ac they did not respond. Mariam said that she appeared before the court twice, and the prosecution asked to extend her detention, but the judge decided to release her after watching the video.

Jerusalem: duplicated confrontation

The occupation authorities continued the daily detention campaigns in Jerusalem on May 2021, in addition to storming houses in the city. (677) detention cases have been documented in Jerusalem, including (124) minors and (32) women. Field detention cases distributed to (117) cases from Al Aqsa Mosque and its gates, (79) cases from Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood and hundreds of cases in other towns.

(845) detention cases have been recorded in Jerusalem since April 2021, where some of the were released under the condition of exile, house arrest and paying guarantees, while others have been accused and still in prison.

Excessive force was used during detention process and transfer to police stations, where many detainees got injured by fractures in the hands, nose and chest. Tens of them were transferred to hospitals and others remained under arrest.

The detainees were accused with many charges such as: participation in confrontations, throw stones, raising the Palestinian flag, smashing surveillance cameras and attacking police officers and settlers.

The Israeli authorities issued a lot of deportation orders, where (270) orders have been issued to deport people from Al-Aqsa/ Jerusalem/ the old town, ranging from one week to six months.

Ahmad Abu Snaineh: lost his eye and arrested from the hospital

Ahmad Abu Snaineh (28 years) was injured with a rubber bullet in Al-Aqsa Mosque during the month of Ramdan, where he was transferred to hospital, and after two weeks the Israeli forces arrested him from inside the hospital.

Abu Snaineh said: "my eye dropped in front of me and I lost my conciseness, and then I was taken to hospital in serious health condition due to fractures in the skull and then I had many surgeries in the eye, head and abdomen".

"In 27/5/2021, a nurse informed me that I will be discharged from hospital, and then the Intelligence forces stormed the room and arrested me".  

Abu Snaineh explained that he was transferred to a detention center and remained for 6 hours despite his fatigue, and then he has been released and turned to house arrest for 4 days, under the condition of getting back to the interrogation. He went in 30/5/2021 to the interrogation and remained long hours under the sun and hot weather, and then he has been released and sentenced to house arrest for one day.

Cancellation of health insurance

The Israeli authorities have cancelled 19 health insurances for detainees and their families from Jerusalem as a means of collective punishment without informing them and without any warning or legal cause. This procedure targeted former detainees who were deported from Jerusalem, Aqsa mosque and the west bank, and restricted their bank accounts. They claimed that they cancelled the insurance because of "residency outside Jerusalem".  

Collective punishments: the villages of Turmosayya and Aqraba

The villages of Turmosayya and Aqraba witnessed many attacks on May 2021 after an operation of shooting Israeli soldiers at Zatara checkpoint/ Nablus. (9) Citizens from Aqraba and (5) from Turmosayya have been arrested.

The wife of the detainee Lafi Shalabi said that an Israeli Special Forces stormed the village of Turmoayya at 3:00 am and broke into their house and arrested her husband in 5/5/2021, where they broke the door and attacked their 16-year-old child. Then, they took her husband to another room and interrogated him and prevented her from taking her medication, as she suffers from hypertension and she was infected with Covid19.

Another case in point is the village of Aqraba, where the Israeli army and Special Forces stormed the village and prevented its people from moving and closed the area with military checkpoints. They also stormed many houses and destroyed their belongings.

 

  Tens of injured persons

The Israeli forces used all kinds of weapons and torture methods against detainees, such as: beating, dragging, using wastewater, using sound bombs, and shooting them with live ammunition and rubber bullets.

A case in point is the injured detainee Fadi Daraghmeh (18 years) from Tubas. He was shot in his knee at the checkpoint of Tayaseer, and then three soldiers started to beat him in a barbaric way and dragged him and took him to Affoula Hospital.

Serious data on the policy of administrative detention

The case of administrative detention witnessed a dangerous transformation, through the increase in the number of administrative detainees, where (200) orders of administrative detention have been issued on May 2021, including (11) orders against detainees from Jerusalem.

This data is a serious indicator which confirms that the Israeli authorities are widely resorting to this policy in a way that violates all restrictions imposed by international laws on using this kind of arbitrary detention.

The Israeli authorities aim at preventing any confrontation or change to attain self-determination by using the policy of administrative detention. The number of administrative detainees increased after the uprising in 1987 and 2000, while they issued (1248) orders of administrative detention since the popular uprising of 2015.

Over the past decades, the Israeli military courts were the main support for this policy, by implementing the orders of the Israeli Intelligence device.

Many detainees have entered a hunger strike in a protest against the administrative detention, where 4 detainees are still on hunger strike such as: Ghadanfar Abu Atwan (28 years) from Hebron, who is on hunger strike since 37 days, khader Adnan (43 years) from Jenin with (12) days of hunger strike, and the two detainees Omar Shami and Yousef Amer with (11) days of hunger strike.