RAMALLAH, (Palestine Foundation Information Center), Palestinian prisoner advocacy groups warned on Thursday of a sharp escalation in Israel’s use of administrative detention, describing the practice as a grave violation of international humanitarian law that increasingly targets residents of the Ramallah district, while Israeli authorities extended the detention of a prominent Palestinian novelist on charges of “incitement.”
The Asra Media Office (AMO) said administrative detention, imprisonment without charge or trial, now affects approximately 3,385 Palestinians, accounting for more than 36 percent of all Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.
The AMO noted that Ramallah has become one of the most heavily targeted governorates, with the village of al-Mughayyir alone accounting for at least 38 administrative detainees.
The rights group highlighted the cases of brothers Ahmad Abu Aliya, 19, and Mohammad Abu Aliya, 18, who remain in administrative detention despite their young age and urgent medical needs. According to the AMO, the two have been subjected to physical abuse, mistreatment, and deliberate medical neglect while in custody.
Administrative detainees, the Office said, are held for indefinite periods based on secret evidence, denying them the right to know the accusations against them or to mount a legal defense. The policy, it added, constitutes both a legal and moral crime under international law.
The warning came as an Israeli military court at Ofer prison extended the detention of Palestinian novelist Walid al-Hodali, 66, until next Tuesday, citing alleged “incitement” on social media.
Israeli occupation forces arrested al-Hodali on January 21 after raiding his home in Ramallah, vandalizing the property and harassing his family, despite his ongoing health conditions that require continuous medical care.
In a joint statement, the Palestinian Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees’ Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoner Society said the extension of al-Hodali’s detention reflects an intensifying campaign to suppress Palestinian cultural and intellectual expression.
The two human rights groups said Israel is increasingly weaponizing digital surveillance and vague legal charges to criminalize opinion and silence any opposition to its policies.
They warned that the Israeli authorities are using the concept of “incitement” as a legal and security tool to target writers, journalists, students, and activists, particularly those capable of exposing Israeli policies or amplifying the Palestinian narrative amid the ongoing genocide against the Palestinian people.
Al-Hodali is widely regarded as one of the most influential Palestinian literary voices documenting the experience of Palestinian prisoners. He has been detained multiple times, including a 12-year imprisonment, as well as repeated administrative detention, notably in 2007 for 20 months and again in 2017.
His most recent arrest came shortly after the release of his latest novel, The Pink Room, part of a broader literary project focused on the lived reality of Palestinian captivity.
Palestinian prisoner groups called on international human rights organizations to take urgent action to pressure Israel to end administrative detention and ensure the protection of Palestinian prisoners’ basic rights.
