Occupied Palestine – The Israeli occupation authorities have issued 710 administrative detention orders against Palestinians since the beginning of this year, the Palestinian Prisoners Centre for Studies has said.
The center pointed out that 340 of the orders were issued to Palestinians to extend their detention from two to six months, while the remaining ones were handed down for the first time.
Riyadh al-Ashqar, the centre’s director, denounced administrative detention as a “criminal policy aimed at holding Palestinian captive indefinitely without any legal basis.”
The number of administrative detention orders issued by Israeli occupation courts over the past five months is 22 per cent higher than those issued in the same period last year, al-Ashqar explained.
He pointed out that March saw the highest number of administrative detention orders issued by Israeli occupation courts, with 195 orders handed down to Palestinians.
Since the beginning of last year, the number of Palestinian detainees held under administrative detention has jumped from 380 to 680, including six lawmakers, two women, and two minors.
Since the beginning of 2022, Palestinian administrative detainees have been boycotting Israeli occupation courts to protest their imprisonment without charge or trial.
Al-Ashqar called for a virtual and genuine international action towards this heinous policy against Palestinian detainees, noting that the Israeli occupation uses administrative detention as an arbitrary tool of collective punishment against the Palestinian people.
According to Palestinian figures, about 4,500 Palestinians, including 32 women and 160 children, are currently languishing in Israeli detention jails.
Among them, close to 530 Palestinians are currently being held under “Israel’s” illegal policy of administrative detention without charge or trial.
