Israel keeps 9,170 Palestinians captive against 116 Israelis Hamas holds

The detention disparity is clear.

Even as the global powers are pressing Hamas resistance group to release 116 Israeli hostages, there's a minimal demand for Israel from the same powers to free more than 9,170 Palestinians it has abducted since October last year.

According to the Palestinian Prisoners' Club, "Israeli occupation authorities, after 250 days of the genocidal war, continue to escalate systematic arrest campaigns that have targeted more than 9,170 detainees from the West Bank, including Jerusalem, in addition to thousands from Gaza."

"The occupation has committed horrific crimes" against prisoners, leading to at least 18 deaths, while it is estimated that "dozens of detainees from Gaza have been martyred," it said on Wednesday in a statement.

"The occupation recently said in an investigative report that 36 detainees from Gaza have been martyred, and until today, it refuses to disclose their identities or circumstances of death," it added.

The club also pointed out that 310 women and at least 640 children have been detained.

It confirmed that "the number of journalists arrested is about 85, with 52 remaining in detention, including 14 journalists from Gaza."

"Among those detained, six female journalists are held either under administrative detention or on charges claimed by the occupation as incitement."

It also noted that "the number of administrative detention orders has reached about 6,627."

The so-called "administrative detention" is a brutal Israeli military order allowing detention without charge, extending up to six months and renewable.

The Prisoners' Club said, "the issue of Gaza detainees is currently the main challenge for human rights organisations, especially with the continued practice of enforced disappearance by the occupation against the majority of detainees from Gaza and its refusal to allow the International Committee of the Red Cross to visit them and check their detention conditions."

Torture, maltreatment

Regarding the torture of detainees, the club said that "methods of mistreatment include thirst, hunger and the deprivation of all basic life necessities."

"The spread of skin diseases among detainees has emerged, particularly scabies, due to the lack of hygiene conditions, especially since the prison administration withdrew clothing and left each detainee with only one set of clothes, adopting a policy of overcrowding," it added.

The Prisoners' Club has called for an "investigation under international supervision into the serious crimes and violations committed against detainees and prisoners in the occupation's prisons and camps."

A recent investigation revealed egregious human rights violations at an Israeli military base in Sde Teiman, southern Israel.

The unspeakable acts of torture include being sodomised with metal rods, electrocution, beating with batons, rifle butts and handheld metal detectors.

Genocidal war

Israel has waged a brutal invasion on Gaza since Hamas' October 7 blitz on Israeli military and settlements that were once Arab villages and farms.

Hamas says its raid that surprised its arch-enemy was orchestrated in response to Israeli attacks on Al Aqsa Mosque, illegal settler violence in occupied West Bank and to put Palestine question "back on the table."

In an assault of startling breadth, Hamas gunmen rolled into as many as 22 locations outside Gaza, including towns and other communities as far as 24 kilometres from the Gaza fence.

At some places they are said to have gunned down many soldiers as Israel's military scrambled to muster response. The hours-long attack and Israeli military's haphazard response including controversial Hannibal Directive resulted in the killing of more than 1,130 people, Israeli officials and local media say.

Palestinian fighters took more than 250 hostages and presently 116 remain in Gaza, including 41 who the Israeli army says are dead, some of them killed in indiscriminate Israeli strikes.

Since the start of its genocidal war in Gaza, Israel has killed at least 543 Palestinians and wounded nearly 5,200 others in the occupied West Bank, according to Health Ministry figures.

Israel has killed at least 37,202 Palestinians — 71 percent of them being women, children and infants –– and wounded 84,932 with more than 10,000 believed to be buried under the debris of bombed homes.

Israeli authorities are responsible for "war crimes and crimes against humanity committed" during its attacks on Gaza since October 7, 2023, according to a UN-backed commission.

The Commission of Inquiry, established by the UN Human Rights Council, noted "a widespread or systematic attack directed against the civilian population in Gaza" including "starvation as a method of warfare".

Palestinians are facing widespread hunger because Israel has largely cut off the flow of food, medicine and other supplies. UN agencies say over 1 million among Gaza's 2.4 million people could experience the highest level of starvation by mid-July.

At the International Court of Justice, Israel is accuse of committing genocide against Palestinians.