Israeli forces arrest 1,228 Palestinians in one month alone: Report

ByNews Desk- The Cradle

Nearly 5,000 Palestinians have been arrested since the start of the year, including 170 minors

A reported 1,228 Palestinians were imprisoned by Israeli occupation forces during the month of April, according to figures revealed on 23 May by several non-governmental organizations led by the Jerusalem-based Wadi Hilweh Information Center.

The report, in which the Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs, the Palestinian Prisoners Club, the Addameer Prisoner Support, and Human Rights Association also participated, put the number of minors and women arrested during the month of April at 165 and 11, respectively.

According to these institutions, the Israeli occupation forces launched a massive campaign of arrests last month, the highest rate of arrests since the beginning of this year.

Wadi Hilweh Information Center noted that “Israeli authorities shot at the detainees … and applied the policy of collective punishment” to include families through “vandalism and the  destruction of homes.”

The spokesperson for the Palestinian Prisoners Club, Ayah Shreiteh, told The New Arab: “The number includes the hundreds of Palestinians arrested at the time of the Israeli rampage in Al-Aqsa compound during the holy month of Ramadan.”

The number of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons reached 4,700 by the end of April, including 32 women and 170 minors, while the number of administrative detainees reached 600.

Between 23 and 24 May, Israeli occupation forces carried out several raids across the occupied West Bank, with local reports saying over 30 Palestinians were arrested.

A correspondent for Al Mayadeen stated that on 24 May the occupation forces used rockets in their attempt to storm the outskirts of Jenin, adding that Palestinians confronted the Israeli aggression.

Witnesses said that the army fired live and metal bullets and tear gas canisters during the most recent raid.

Over the past several months, Jenin has become a hub of the Palestinian resistance, as the refugee camp faces increasingly brutal raids by occupation troops.

A few days ago, Israeli occupation troops used a 16-year-old Palestinian girl as a human shield during a raid in Jenin, according to the report rights group, Defense for Children International.

Earlier this month, Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Aqla was deliberately targeted and shot dead by Israeli troops while reporting an Israeli raid on the Jenin camp.