RAMALLAH, (PIC)
Arab Prisoners’ Day, observed annually on April 22, comes amid a marked rise in the number of Arab detainees in Israeli prisons. This follows Palestinian Prisoners’ Day on April 17, during what is described as one of the harshest periods in the history of the prisoners’ movement.
The Palestinian Prisoner Society (PPS) said in a press release on Wednesday that the number of Arab prisoners has doubled since the genocide in Gaza in 2023. It noted that dozens of detainees, mostly from Syria and Lebanon, were recently arrested and are being held in central prisons, with authorities concealing their numbers and fate.
The statement added that Israeli authorities impose intensified isolation on them, blocking access by human rights and legal organizations, while they face violations including enforced disappearance, torture, starvation, and solitary confinement.
The PPS affirmed that the issue of Arab prisoners is an integral part of the prisoners’ movement, and that calls for their freedom are an extension of the Palestinian prisoners’ struggle.
According to available data, the number of detainees in Israeli prisons exceeded 9,600 as of early April, with nearly half held without charges under administrative detention.
