Israeli forces attack, punish Palestinian women in Damon prison: NGO

Israeli forces have brutally attacked Palestinian women in Damon prison in the occupied territories, sending a number of them to solidarity confinement, amid the Tel Aviv regime’s intensified crackdown on detainees, says a local NGO.

In a statement on Monday, the Palestinian Prisoners Society (PPS) said Israeli forces have violently raided the cells of the female Palestinian detainees during the past days, adding that they have severely beaten the prisoners and injured several of them, the Palestinian Information Center reported.

The NGO further noted that Israeli prison authorities imposed several repressive measures against the female prisoners, including depriving them of taking shower for three days, cutting off electricity and spraying tear gas in their cells.

One of the prisoners lost consciousness during the repeated attacks after Israeli forces removed headscarves of her fellow prisoners as they were violently attacking them and grabbing their necks and hair.

Israeli prison authorities have also placed five women in solitary confinement. Two of them have reportedly been taken back to their section in Damon jail, but three of them have been isolated at Gilboa and Jalamah prisons.

The escalation against the female prisoners took place after they refused the new measures announced by the Israeli prison administration against them, as well as the collective penalties that were imposed on them, including depriving them of family visits and preventing them from purchasing items from the canteen, as well as the imposition of fines on them.

Since 2015, the number of Palestinian women who have been arrested has reached more than 900, among them mothers of prisoners, martyrs and minor girls, according to a report by the Palestinian Prisoners Club (PPC) and the Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association.

Female prisoners have been allowed to see only one adult member of their family since the onset of the coronavirus outbreak and the suspension of family visits for Palestinian prisoners.

More than 7,000 Palestinian prisoners are currently held in some 17 Israeli jails, with dozens of them serving multiple life sentences.

Over 500 detainees, including women and minors, are being held under the so-called administrative detention in various Israeli prisons, with some of whom being held in that condition for up to 11 years without any charges brought against them.

The detention takes place on orders from a military commander and on the basis of what the Israeli regime describes as ‘secret’ evidence.

On eve of Intl. Women’s Day, 35 Palestinian women, including 11 mothers, in Israeli prisons

Three of the prisoners are being held without charge or trial under the so-called administrative detention.

Palestinian detainees have continuously resorted to open-ended hunger strikes in an attempt to express their outrage at the detentions and harsh conditions in Israeli jails.

Senior Palestinian officials say Israel must be held accountable for its persecution of Palestinian people, including its mass and arbitrary detentions.

Palestinian inmates have also been subjected to systematic torture, harassment and repression all through the years of Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories.

Israeli jail authorities also keep Palestinian prisoners under deplorable conditions, lacking proper hygienic standards.

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