Israel has detained around 21,000 Palestinians from the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem since the start of its genocide in Gaza on 8 October 2023, the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club said on Tuesday. Thousands more have also been arrested from the Gaza Strip, although Israel continues to withhold any information regarding their identities, conditions, or whereabouts.
In a statement, the Prisoners’ Club said the Israeli authorities are carrying out a “systematic and unprecedented” arrest campaign across the West Bank and Jerusalem, accompanied by severe violations during raids, including extrajudicial killings.
It noted that the surge in arrests coincides with legislative moves inside Israel to advance a law permitting the execution of Palestinian prisoners — a step the organisation described as part of decades-long efforts to deepen repression and expand tools of control over the Palestinian population.
According to the statement, the wave of arrests and the abuses committed inside prisons and detention camps represent “a direct extension of the war of extermination waged against the Palestinian people.” The organisation said Israel has significantly escalated violations against detainees and their families since the start of the genocide.
The Prisoners’ Club highlighted the recent demolition of the homes of two prisoners — Abdul Karim Sanoubar and Ayman Ghannam — describing the targeting of prisoners’ families as “a central instrument of collective punishment,” which it said has intensified to unprecedented levels over the past two years.
READ: 5 Palestinians injured in Israeli army fire in West Bank raid