The Israeli occupation is keeping 21 Palestinian female prisoners who are being subjected to systematic and coordinated atrocities incarcerated, two Palestinian prisoners’ rights organizations revealed.
In a joint report on International Women’s Day, the Commission of Detainees’ and Ex-Detainees’ Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoners Society (PPS) stated that the abuses have escalated since the start of the Israeli war on Gaza.
The report detailed the various abuses the prisoners faced, including malnutrition, systemic medical negligence, sexual assault, continuous raids on their cells, theft, deprivation, and psychological torment.
According to the rights groups, targeting women is a common practice rather than an isolated incident. The most significant change lies in the level of crimes committed against them.
The prisoners include two young girls, one of whom is just 12 years old, 12 moms, one of whom is pregnant in her third month, two administrative detainees, six teachers, a journalist who is a media student, and numerous ill prisoners, including one suffering from cancer.
Furthermore, two women have been detained since before Operation Al-Aqsa Flood on October 7, 2023, and Israeli authorities refuse to include them in the prisoner-captive exchange process.
Since October 2023, prisoner advocacy organizations have reported 490 incidents involving female incarceration, including minors. This covers women arrested in the West Bank, al-Quds, and the 1948-occupied territories. The precise number of women jailed in Gaza remains unknown.