Ramallah -

Immediately after the announcement of the escape of 6 Palestinian prisoners from the Israeli Gilboa prison, last Monday, the Israeli authorities began a series of collective punishments in prisons, and against the families of some prisoners, according to Palestinian sources.

The sanctions affected achievements that were originally rights of prisoners obtained after battles and hunger strikes, including factional representation, the abolition of the “cantina” (a store from which prisoners buy their needs), and the reduction of the “fuora” (the period of prison release).

And the penalties were moved outside the prison, to include the families of some prisoners who escaped by arresting their relatives.

For the third day, the occupation authorities continued their search and search campaign for prisoners, and deployed their forces in villages near the prison from which they fled, and in the vicinity of Jenin (in the northern West Bank).

The six prisoners are all from the Jenin area;

Five of them are from the Islamic Jihad Movement, and they are: Munadil Yaqoub Nafi’at, Muhammad Qasim al-Ardah, Yaqoub Mahmoud Qadri, Ayham Fouad Kammaji, and Mahmoud Abdullah al-Ardah, and the sixth is the former commander of the al-Aqsa Brigades in the West Bank, Zakaria al-Zubaidi.

collective punishments

The head of the Palestinian Prisoners' Affairs Authority, Qadri Abu Bakr, told Al Jazeera Net that the Israeli Prison Authority informed the prisoners that it had canceled the laundry, stopped the "cantina" and prevented the "surge", and the prisoners did not leave their rooms.

Israeli prisons are divided into several sections, and in each section several rooms, and in each room 6 prisoners, and usually each section goes out separately to the "Fora".

Abu Bakr added that the prison authorities escalated their mistreatment of prisoners, and made "shifts" in all prisons.

Transferring the prisoner from the room or prison in which he lives is a severe punishment, as it results in depriving the prisoner of relative stability and losing many of his belongings.

Abu Bakr revealed a decision to dissolve the Islamic Jihad "organization", deeming it "banned" and distributing the prisoners of the Jihad movement to rooms with the rest of the political organizations.

The “Tanzim” is a committee that represents prisoners from the factions at the prison administrations, and helps the two parties in managing the prisoners’ lives inside the prisons.

Abu Bakr said that tension prevails in Shata prison (north of the Jordan Valley) after a prisoner sprayed one of the warders with hot water during a crackdown on prisoners on Tuesday, "as the jailers beat him and broke his hand."

He added that prison administrations and their repression units "behave brutally and violently with the prisoners."

The units of repression are violent teams reinforced with weapons and equipment affiliated with prison administrations and are called to storm the prisoners’ rooms, including “Mitsada,” “Doror,” “Al Yamaz,” “Al Yamam” and “Al Nahshon,” according to Palestinian human rights organizations.

Abu Bakr revealed contacts made by the Palestinian Authority and the Prisoners’ Affairs Authority with international bodies, most notably the International Committee of the Red Cross and human rights institutions, to send lawyers to prisons and to find out the reasons for what is happening, and to put pressure to stop the Israeli attack on the prisoners.

Border guards in prisons

The director of the Palestinian Prisoner's Club (a civil organization) Abdullah Al-Zaghari told Al Jazeera Net that the punitive measures "include all prisons, and include widespread abuse of detainees."

He added that the Israeli Prison Authority transferred dozens of prisoners from Gilboa prison - from which the six prisoners escaped - to other prisons, and some of them were transferred to cells and are under investigation.

Zaghari said that prison administrations are implementing the recommendations of a previous committee set up by Security Minister Gilad Erdan in 2018 to tighten the noose around detainees.

He referred to a thorough inspection campaign in search of attempts to dig tunnels, during which sabotage the prisoners' belongings, including laundries and bathrooms, in which soldiers from the Border Guard units participated for the first time.

He said that the Israeli tendency is to intensify the transfer of prisoners who claim that they pose a danger, so that they are not allowed to settle for a long time in any section or prison.

Al-Zaghari pointed out that the Palestinian factions inside prisons work through organizational structures and committees and representatives of prisoners, who are chosen by consensus or election, and the solution to “organization” of Islamic Jihad means the absence of their representation and lack of dealing with them, and dealing with each of them individually with the aim of restricting the movement’s activity.

In light of "the attack on the prisoners' rights and depriving them of visits", Al-Zaghari suggested that the prisoners would not accept these measures, "and perhaps a state of tension, alertness, a clash of hands, and more struggle steps inside prisons to resist the repressive measures."

Al-Zaghari pointed out that the punishments were not limited to the fleeing prisoners, but also affected the families of some of them in the Jenin area.

He said that the occupation authorities arrested today, Wednesday, Shaddad and Raddad Al-Ardah, my brother Mahmoud Al-Ardah, and Bassem, the brother of Muhammad Al-Ardah, and Yaqoub Nafi`at, the brother of the activist Nafi`at.

Zaghari said that the arrests are part of an attempt to pressure and search for any information that leads to the whereabouts of the escaped prisoners.

The number of Palestinian prisoners at the end of last August was estimated at 4,650, who are languishing in 23 prisons and detention and investigation centers, including 40 female prisoners, about 200 minors, and 520 administrative detainees, according to a report by the Palestinian Prisoners Club.