June 2 (UPI) — As Israel continues to seek the return of about 125 hostages taken by the Palestinian militia Hamas on Oct. 7, thousands of people have been arrested in the West Bank by Israeli forces as their homes were destroyed.
The Palestinian Prisoner’s Society, a nonprofit based in Ramallah, said Sunday on social media that a child was among ten people arrested during raids Saturday causing the number of people arrested by Israel to rise to 8,985.
“This number includes those who were detained from homes, through military barriers, those who were forced to surrender under pressure, and those who were held hostage,” the nonprofit said in its statement.
The human rights group Amnesty International said in November that after the war broke out, Israeli authorities “dramatically increased their use of administrative detention” without charges.
Amnesty International has documented cases of Israeli soldiers torturing Palestinian detainees, including “severe beatings” and “humiliation.” The human rights group said that such torture had been occurring “for decades” before Hamas’ attack Oct. 7.
And, Israeli forces have detained journalists and more than a dozen healthcare workers in Gaza, the Palestine Red Crescent Society said in March.
“The occupation authorities continue to escalate from the policy of detaining journalists to threats and field assaults, detention and persecution, in light of the continuing war of genocide against our people in Gaza,” the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society said.
The nonprofit said that about 80 journalists have been arrested and about 49 remain in custody. Among the arrested journalists, three women — Ikhlas Saleha, Bushra Tallawil and Asma Harish — are under administrative detention. The journalist Rola Husnain remains under house arrest.
“Journalists arrested in occupation prisons and its camps face all the vengeful and punitive measures imposed on prisoners and detainees in general, alongside torture and humiliation, the policy of starvation and systematic medical crimes,” the group said.
Meanwhile, human rights experts with the United Nations have expressed alarm about the treatment of women and girls in Gaza who were subject to extrajudicial executions by the Israeli military.
Sexual violence by Israeli soldiers against Palestinian women has been documented since before the war began. Since the war, at least two Palestinian detainees have said they were raped while others were threatened with rape and sexual violence.
And throughout the war, videos and pictures purporting to show Israeli soldiers going through Palestinian women’s underwear in Gaza have gone viral.
