News / Palestine / Notification

Over 700 Palestinians held under Israeli administrative detention

Friday, 19 February 2016 6:18 PM [ Last Update: Friday, 19 February 2016 6:17 PM ]

A Palestinian man lying on a bed wears a face covering depicting hunger striking Palestinian journalist Mohammed al-Qiq, on February 19, 2016, during a demonstration in solidarity with him in the West Bank village of Bilin, near Ramallah. (AFP photo)

The Palestinian Prisoners Club says the number of Palestinians held under Israel's administrative detention law has increased to more than 700 despite international criticism.

The Palestinian non-governmental organization attributed, in a statement on Friday, the rise in the number of Palestinians held by Israel without charge or trial to the new wave of violence began in October.

Since the start of October 2015, some 180 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces in what is regarded as the third Palestinian Intifada (uprising).

Tensions heightened in the Palestinian territories in August 2015, when Israel imposed restrictions on the entry of Palestinian worshipers into the al-Aqsa Mosque compound in East al-Quds.

The Palestinians say the Tel Aviv regime seeks to change the status quo of the holy Muslim site.

Palestinians, human rights groups and the international community have criticized the so-called administrative detention which is a sort of imprisonment without trial or charge and allows Israel to incarcerate Palestinians for up to six months which can be extended for indefinite times.

The news comes as Mohammed al-Qiq, a 33-year-old journalist, reported to be close to death after 83 days on hunger strike in protest against his internment under the so-called administrative detention laws.

The United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Nickolay Mladenov, expressed his deep concern about “the deteriorating condition" of Qiq in a speech to the UN Security Council on Thursday.

He also said that anyone held under the system should "be either charged or released immediately".

More than 7,000 Palestinians are currently in Israeli jails, including those under administrative detention, according to the prisoners club.

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