Israel's abuse of Palestinian prisoners has escalated since the start of the aggression on Gaza (Al Jazeera)
The Palestine Liberation Organization's Prisoners' and Ex-Prisoners' Affairs Commission and the "Prisoners' Club" said that the Israeli occupation forces have arrested more than 6,500 Palestinians from the West Bank alone, since the Al-Aqsa Flood operation on October 7th.
The two institutions explained - in a statement published the day before yesterday, Sunday - that the number of arrests includes those who were arrested from homes and through military checkpoints, those who were forced to surrender themselves under pressure, and those who were held hostage.
The statement indicated that the occupation carried out widespread acts of abuse, severe beatings, and threats against detainees and their families, in addition to widespread sabotage and destruction of citizens’ homes, premeditated murder, seizure of vehicles, and theft of money.
Experts in international law and specialists in Palestinian prisoner affairs told Al Jazeera Net that the announced numbers of detainees do not include those who were arrested from Gaza since the start of the aggression against the Gaza Strip. Because there is no accurate census of these numbers.
They pointed out that the Israeli prison authorities are exercising escalation against detainees. Such as: canceling trials, transferring many of them to military courts, preventing communication with families and lawyers, and assaulting children and women.
Establishment of international law
Professor of International Law and International Relations at the Arab American University, Raed Abu Badawiya, said that international law, through the Third Geneva Conventions, which relate to prisoners of war and armed conflicts, and the Fourth Geneva Convention, which relates to civilians under occupation; Provide full protection to Palestinian prisoners and groups, including resistance factions.
He added - in statements to Al Jazeera Net - that international humanitarian law sets clear conditions relating to the Palestinians, whether as prisoners of war or organized groups with one leadership and carrying a unified slogan, and these conditions apply to Palestinian resistance fighters, specifically armed groups.
But Israel - according to the professor of international law - has rejected this international legal adaptation since 1967 until today, and has treated the Palestinians as criminals, and tried them before military courts and not as prisoners of war. Because the prisoner is not tried, but is released when the war stops, or as a result of a political agreement.
Tools of international law
Regarding international legal tools, Raed Abu Badawiyya said that many of the Arab public have high expectations regarding legal tools, and the truth is that they will not liberate the country, will not stop the aggression on the Gaza Strip, and the Palestinian people will not obtain their rights through them.
However, Abu Badawiya adds, this does not diminish the importance of these tools in international politics and the system of international relations. The decision itself is important, but not because Israel will implement it - there are dozens of decisions issued by international institutions that Israel has not implemented - but because it may represent pressure on Israel’s international policy, and constitute a societal incubator that stands with the Palestinian right.
The professor of international law also stressed that the importance of international resolutions lies in how they are exploited from the economic, military, political and diplomatic aspects, and in forming a basis and conviction that can be built upon, in order to direct global public opinion to form pressure that forces Israel to submit to international tools, as happened in the case brought by South Africa. Before the International Court of Justice.
Escalation against prisoners
The professor of international relations at the Arab American University said that Israel practices multiple violations regarding the rights of prisoners, whether in conditions of detention, unfair trials, torture, the trial of children, or the treatment of women, but these violations escalated after October 7. In the past, prisoners were used as human shields, executed on the ground, and deprived of all human necessities.
According to Abu Badawiyya, this became a general policy followed by the occupation authorities, serving several goals:
Israel uses the prisoner file not only on a legal basis, but also for political purposes.
Israel has increased arrests in the West Bank in order to achieve general deterrence against Palestinian citizens.
Israel is on the verge of a deal, and then activated the “revolving door” policy, in order to fill the prisons with Palestinian detainees.
Israel wants to satisfy its hunger and reduce the pressure on the government from the street and the families of prisoners held by Hamas.
For all of this, the escalation against prisoners, whether in Israeli prisons, or new arrests, has turned into a card of collective punishment and deterrence against the Palestinian people, at the hands of the current government, which is led by officials from the extreme right, led by National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich.
Prisoners' Affairs Authority
The specialist in prisoner affairs, Hassan Abd Rabbo, said that the Commission is an official institution established through the Liberation Organization and the Palestinian National Authority, and it is authorized to bear political and legal responsibility for the prisoners, follow up on their social and humanitarian conditions, and provide community care for the families of the prisoners, in addition to preparing the freed prisoners socially and professionally, as well as working To release detainees in all Israeli prisons.
He added - in statements to Al Jazeera Net - that the Prisoners' Affairs Authority works in integration with the various Palestinian political forces, with the aim of supporting and supporting the prisoner movement when it takes militant steps inside the prisons, whether that is through open or even partial hunger strikes, or through militant protest steps in The Palestinian street, and all of this is in the interest of activating legal tools, investing in the media aspect, and exerting international pressure on the Israeli occupation.
After the Al-Aqsa Flood
Regarding the current situation of Palestinian prisoners inside the occupation prisons, the specialist in prisoner affairs said that the obstacles imposed by the Israeli occupation authorities became very different after the seventh of last October. They decided to cancel all trials in order to double the sentences issued against detainees, and now The scope of arguments before lawyers is very limited, due to military orders, and not according to legal data.
Hassan Abd Rabbo pointed out that more than 30% of the prisoners are administrative detainees without right, and without charges brought against them, and this is considered the ultimate injustice, racism and criminality on the part of the occupation. Despite this, the presence of lawyers remains necessary in order to continue the legal rights of the prisoner, in light of the occupation’s practices against Prisoners, from visiting visits, isolation, and military trials.
He concluded that the issue of prisoners is the most pivotal issue in the Palestinian national issue. Because it concerns thousands of prisoners and detainees, and their release can only come through two means: either a comprehensive political solution, and this is not available now. Or through prisoner exchanges, examples of which we witnessed during the years of extended conflict with the Israeli occupation.
Source: Al Jazeera + websites