Occupation forces continued their campaign of arrests in the West Bank, abducting 18 Palestinians on Wednesday, August 5 and early Thursday, August 6, with a total of 120 Palestinians detained by the occupation military in the first week of August, according to a report by the Palestinian Prisoners’ Society. There are now approximately 6,500 Palestinian political prisoners in occupation prisons.

Those detained include Ibrahim Jaber, a former prisoner who had been released in the 2011 Wafa al-Ahrar prisoner exchange. 62 prisoners released in the exchange were re-arrested by occupation forces since June 2014, and a number have had their entire pre-release sentences re-imposed by military tribunals.

The release of the prisoners re-arrested after their release in the exchange (including well-known former long-term hunger striker Samer Issawi) is one of the terms of the Palestinian resistance in the Gaza ceasefire talks currently taking place in Cairo. Fouad Khuffash of Ahrar Center stressed the urgency of this issue, noting that all of them face the re-imposition of their previous sentences, which are mostly lengthy sentences up to life terms.

Seven Palestinians were taken from al-Khalil area by occupation forces, while others were taken from Jenin, Nablus, Bethlehem and Tulkarem areas. In the first week of August, 30 Palestinians from Al-Khalil area have been detained, 23 from Jerusalem, 20 from Ramallah and al-Bireh, 14 from Bethlehem, 14 from Jenin, 8 from Salfit, 5 from Nablus, 3 from Tubas, 2 from Tulkarem and 1 from Jericho.

Also on Thursday, August 7, 11 more Palestinian political prisoners were sentenced to administrative detention without charge or trial, raising the number of administrative detainees to over 466. 268 Palestinians have been sent to administrative detention since mid-June 2014, the beginning of the campaign of mass arrests. All of those sentenced to administrative detention were detained in the mass arrest campaign. Administrative detention is a form of detention based on secret evidence, in which Palestinians are held without charge or trial for renewable periods of up to six months.

The 11 people sentenced to administrative detention are: Saeed Abu Tahoun – 6 months; Hani Shalash – 6 months; Noureddine Alayan – 6 months; Thaer Samadeh – 6 months; Musab al-Hindi, 6 months; Ehab Alayan – 6 months; Yousef Abu Farra – 4 months; Eyad Daraghmeh – 3 months; Saji Abu Abdou – 5 months; Ibrahim Saba – 4 months; and Mohammed Harbiyat – 6 months.

The International Middle East Media Center (IMEMC) ran the following article on August 7, regarding the torture of Wa’el Salim Mustafa in Israeli prisons and his death. We will continue to follow updates on this urgent story, the latest of numerous reports of torture deaths in occupation prisons. 73 Palestinian prisoners, including Arafat Jaradat, were killed under torture in occupation prisons, Addameer has reported.

Jordanian Family: “Israel Tortured Our Son To Death”

A Jordanian family is accusing Israel of arresting and torturing their son to death, after they detained him during a Tel Aviv protest in solidarity with the Palestinians in Gaza.

The family in Ein Abous in Zarqa – Jordan told the al-Balad News Agency in Jordan that Wa’el Salim Mustafa, 39, was detained by the Israeli police, and has died due to extreme torture..

The family was informed of his death three days after the fact.

Some Arabic reports indicate that he was kidnapped during a protest against the Israeli war on Gaza.

But, according to the al-Wakaai news agency, the family said he was likely taken prisoner for staying and working in Israel without a permit,.

The family said Wa’el was subject to extreme torture by Israeli interrogators, and died under interrogation on the same day of his arrest.

His brother, Qotaiba, stated that the Israeli authorities contacted the family, asking them to come over and sign documents permitting Israeli doctors “to perform a needed surgery” but, once the family arrived in Tel Aviv, they were told he was dead, al-Kawn News said.

According to the report, Wa’el has been working in Tel Aviv for around 18 months, and was taken prisoners in an area where a protest was taking place.

Qotaiba added that the body of his brother showed clear signs of extreme torture, including facial and eye swelling, several broken ribs, with various cuts and bruises all over his body.

On April 5, the al-Balad News Agency said that Jordanian legislator Mohammad Thahrawi conducted enormous efforts which led to moving the body of Mustafa to Amman, where the legislator and hundreds of family members and citizens gathered across the border.

The body of the Jordanian man was first taken to al-Bashir Hospital, in Amman.

Jordanian Ministers and security also helped in the coordinated efforts which led to moving his body back to Jordan.

Transcript of video: …. Reporter: What’s the name of the martyr?
“Wa’el. Wa’el”
Reporter: “Wa’el what?”
“Wa’el Salim Mahmoud Mustafa”…
Reporter: martyr Wa’el Salim Mahmoud Mustafa, todays date is August 7 2014, This is the funeral of martyr Wa’el Salim… Mahmoud Mustafa”. Where is he from?
“Ein Abous, al-Jawaz”. (Zarqa’ Jordan)

Mustafa left Jordan around 18 months ago, traveling to Tel Aviv and Haifa, where we worked construction jobs.

Israel is refusing to provide further details on the issue, while the family has filed an official complaint against Israel and the Israeli Prison Administration, and is asking for another autopsy to reveal the causes of death.

A Jordanian security source said that Jordan formed a committee to oversee the autopsy, which would be performed at a Jordanian Hospital, adding that initial examination shows clear bruises and fractures in the head, chest and several other body parts.

It also revealed that a sharp blow to the head caused brain hemorrhage, eventually leading to death. An official report will be issued at a later stage.

Israel alleges that Wa’el “fell during interrogation, and died later on”.

Israel and Jordan signed a peace agreement in 1994. Despite the fact that all Israelis can travel to Jordan, most Jordanian males are not allowed to travel to Tel Aviv, and are admitted through the Arab side of the border terminal with Jordan and, thus, are “granted” access to the West Bank and not to historic Palestine, including Jerusalem.

As the three-day ceasefire began in Gaza after Israeli bombs and weaponry killed over 1850 Palestinians, wounded nearly 10,000 and destroyed thousands of homes, the occupation army continued its mass arrests and invasions throughout the West Bank.

Between Monday and Tuesday, August 4 and 5, at least 37 people were arrested by occupation forces in various villages, towns and cities throughout the West Bank. Those arrested include five Palestinian youth aged 12 through 17 from Mazra’a ash-Sharqiyya and Palestinians from Beit Ummar, Husan, Bethlehem, al-Azza Refugee Camp, Aida Refugee Camp, al-Khalil, Um ar-Rihan, and Bedia. Other Palestinians were ordered to report to occupation military bases for occupation, while two children from al-Fawwar refugee camp were detained and later released.

In al-Far’a refugee camp near Tubas, soldiers invaded in the early morning of August 5, where Solidarity Movement for a Free Palestine reported that they tried and failed to abduct Mahdi Musa Alian, after they were confronted by the youth of the camp who came to defend the Alian house against the invasion. The occupation army shot 22-year-old Mahmoud Ali Waked in the leg with live ammunition. SFP noted, “Al Far’a camp is located in Tubas Governorate. Far’a’s refugees come from 30 villages to the north-east of Haifa. Under international law, like the Palestinian refugees in Gaza and elsewhere, they have the right to return to their homes inside the ’48 area of Palestine.”

Photos: Al-Far’a Refugee Committee, via Solidarity Movement for a Free Palestine

Over 200 Palestinians have been abducted by occupation soldiers on the borders of Gaza during the ground invasion of Gaza, transferred to undisclosed locations, interrogated, and abused, while those same occupation forces killed over 1850 Palestinians, wounded nearly 10,000 and destroyed thousands of homes.

These civilians, who refused or who were unable to leave their homes due to massive aerial bombing and shelling, were transferred to special camps set up inside occupied Palestine ’48, and interrogated for hours or days by military forces and the Shin Bet. Over 75 of them were released and left outside Beit Hanoun, and the remaining Palestinian civilians from Gaza remain unaccounted-for and under arrest, as well as wounded people, some of whom were released without treatment after two days of interrogation. Paramedics and wounded people were arrested on July 24 as they left Khuza’a.

Issa Qaraqe, a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council, cautioned on August 4 that some Palestinians who were captured by the occupation army may have been shot immediately after their arrest, as were civilians attempting to leave Khuza’a. Some of those detained were taken to occupation hospitals and another portion are still under interrogation. He warned that some of the missing may have been murdered by occupation forces or allowed to bleed to death without medical treatment, and called upon the International Committee of the Red Cross to act urgently to determine the fate of the Palestinians arrested in Gaza by the occupation forces and the circumstances of their detention.

Addameer issued the following statement on the urgent situation of Palestinians arrested from Gaza:

24 July 2014, occupied Ramallah – As the brutal assault in Gaza continues onto its seventeenth day, Addameer Prisoners Support and Human Rights Association expresses deep concern regarding the newly launched mass arrest campaign launched by the Israeli forces.

At least 150 Palestinians were arrested overnight in Gaza and forcibly transferred to an undisclosed detention center where they are now undergoing interrogation by Special Unit 504 in coordination with the intelligence services. The detainees are expected to undergo interrogation by the Shin Bet as well.

Also among those who have been arrested in recent days are ‘Ammar Shami, who was injured during the shelling and is now hospitalized during his detention. Addameer’s colleagues from Al-Mezan in Gaza are representing Shami as well as nine other detainees: Mahmoud Abu Saeed, Afif Al-Jarah, Imad Al-Jarah, Abd Al Rahman Balousha, Hassan Al-Astal, Mohammad Al-Agha, Ahmad Abu Lahiya, Ibrahim Abu and Mohammad Al-Qudra. The ten detainees have lawyers bans for a period of ten days, making the circumstances of their interrogation and detention unknown.

Considering the arbitrary nature of these arrests, Addameer raises concerns that the detainees will be subject to Israel’s “Unlawful Combatants Law.” This law allows for Palestinians from the Gaza Strip to be detained for an unlimited amount of time without being charged or brought to trial. Under this law, detainees are issued a permanent detention order and are then brought before an Israeli District Court only once every six months for judicial review of their order. In practice, the Unlawful Combatants Law contains fewer protections for detainees than even the few that are granted under administrative detention orders in the West Bank.

In addition to the egregious war crimes committed by Israel in this latest round of aggression on Gaza, in which over 703 Palestinians have been killed, the majority of them civilians, and thousands injured, Addameer is concerned about the continued violation of international humanitarian law in regards to the prisoners. The forcible transfer of prisoners by the Occupying Power is in gross violation of Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention. Furthermore, although the circumstances of the detainees interrogation are currently unknown, photos of the detainees indicate that they have been stripped of their clothing, detained in crowded areas and in some cases, blindfolded. This degrading and humiliating treatment is also in violation of IHL and IHRL, as well as the dignity of the prisoners and the Palestinian people. Israel’s well-known systematic and widespread use of physical and psychological torture against Palestinian prisoners also raises concerns for the treatment of the detainees as well.

Addameer calls on all international bodies to intervene immediately to implement international human rights and humanitarian law in the Gaza Strip, call for a ceasefire and hold accountable the perpetrators of the war crimes committed against the Palestinian people in the International Criminal Court.

The Palestinian Prisoners Center for Studies reported that the conditions of Palestinian prisoners in occupation prisons have worsened significantly following the imposition of further sanctions upon the prisoners by the occupation forces, imposed during the mass arrest campaign following the disappearance of three settlers in June and maintained throughout the Israeli assault on Gaza that killed over 1850 Palestinians.

The occupation prison administration has cut recreation time in half, reduced the maximum amount each prisoner can have in his or her “canteen” fund (provided by family or Palestinian sources) from 1,200 shekels maximum to only 400 shekels, reduced family visits to one half-hour each month, removed 7 satellite channels of 10 from prison television (and 2 of the 3 remaining channels are Zionist channels).

Raafat Hamdouna reported that the prisoners reject these sanctions, which are designed to prevent them from learning the truth about the war on Gaza, the Israeli crimes and the Palestinian resistance, and are planning to protest these sanctions as part of the war against prisoners and in particular those from Gaza, who are suffering an additional heavy burden behind bars while their families face bombing and destruction.

Meanwhile the Palestinian Prisoners Society reported ongoing attacks by prison administration on prisoners in various prisons. In Gilboa prison, the prison administration claimed to discover a tunnel in one of the prison sections and transferred the prisoners affiliated with Islamic Jihad to Hasharon and Hadarim prisons, and isolated Muhannad Zayoud and Muhannad Sawalha. They raided each of the sections of the prison throughout the night, and invaded section 5 – which houses prisoners from Jerusalem and occupied Palestine ’48 – for 5 hours. On Sunday, special units invaded section 1 for 6 hours, and section 2 has been closed since Sunday.

Similar to the pretext used in Gaza to attack civilians massively, the Israeli prison administration has used claims of “searching for tunnels” to engage in abusive raids and “inspections” in Ashkelon prison, damaging prisoners’ belongings and vandalizing and ransacking the rooms.