Nearly 9,000 Palestinians arrested in the West Bank

June 2 (UPI) – While Israel continues to demand the release of about 125 hostages taken by the Palestinian militia Hamas on October 7, thousands of people in the West Bank have been arrested by Israeli forces after their homes were destroyed.

The Palestinian Prisoner’s Society, a Ramallah-based nonprofit, announced on social media on Sunday that a child was among 10 people arrested in Saturday’s raids, bringing the number of people detained by Israel to 8,985.

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“This number includes those abducted from their homes, forced through military blockades, those forced to surrender under pressure and those held hostage,” the nonprofit said in a statement.

The human rights organization Amnesty International said in November that the Israeli authorities had “drastically increased their use of administrative detention without charge” since the outbreak of the war.

Amnesty International has documented cases of Israeli soldiers torturing Palestinian prisoners, including “severe beatings” and “humiliation.” The human rights group said such torture had been taking place for “decades” before the October 7 Hamas attack.

In addition, Israeli forces arrested journalists and more than a dozen health workers in Gaza, the Palestinian Red Crescent Society said in March.

“In the face of the ongoing genocidal war against our people in the Gaza Strip, the occupation authorities continue to escalate from the policy of imprisoning journalists to on-the-ground threats and attacks, detention and persecution,” the Palestinian Prisoners’ Society said.

The non-profit organization 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 in administrative detention. Journalist Rola Husnain remains under house arrest.

“Journalists arrested in the occupation prisons and camps face all the revenge and punitive measures imposed on prisoners and detainees in general, in addition to torture and humiliation, the policy of starvation and systematic medical crimes,” the group said.

Meanwhile, United Nations human rights experts have expressed concern about the treatment of women and girls in the Gaza Strip who have been victims of 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 prisoners have said they were raped, while others have been threatened with rape and sexual violence. And throughout the war, videos and images have circulated purporting to show Israeli soldiers in Gaza rummaging through the underwear of Palestinian women.