Israeli forces have arrested more than 125 Palestinian women and girls since the beginning of 2022, the Palestinian Prisoners Club, which campaigns for the rights of Palestinians detained in Israeli jails, said on Wednesday.
The PPC statement, released on the Day of the Palestinian Woman, added that 32 Palestinian women are currently held in Israeli prisons.
Among the prisoners is 15-year-old Nafth Hammad who was arrested in Jerusalem in 2021 while travelling home from school. The oldest of the prisoners is Maysoon Musa who was arrested in 2015 and is serving a 15-year sentence.
Two Palestinian women are being held in Israeli jails under administrative orders, which effectively allow Israel to hold detainees indefinitely and without charge.
Six of the female prisoners are suffering from injuries, according to the PPC. This includes mother-of-one Israa Jaabis, who was arrested after her car caught fire while she was driving home in Jerusalem in October 2015.
According to human rights group Addameer, a gas cylinder in Jaabis’ car exploded, causing her vehicle to burst into flames. After rushing out of her car and calling for help, armed Israeli soldiers accused Jaabis of attempting an attack and arrested her.
Jaabis, who suffered from burn wounds to 60 percent of her body, was sentenced to 11 years in prison.
The PPC says Palestinian female prisoners are subjected to physical and psychological torture, including sleep deprivation, isolation, extortion, threats, and severe beatings.
The families of detained women are also threatened with arrest and issued summons by Israeli authorities, which rights groups say is part of a campaign of collective punishment.
Israel has arrested more than 17,000 Palestinian women since the beginning of the occupation of the West Bank in 1967, according to the PPC.