Over 760 arrests in occupied West Bank in February 2025: Palestinian prisoners’ institutions
March 10, 2025
Commission of Detainees’ Affairs, Palestinian Prisoner’s Society (PPS) & Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association.
Ramallah, Palestine - Israeli occupation authorities continue to carry out mass arrests in the West Bank. The total number of arrests in February 2025 reached 762, with the majority targeting Jenin city, villages and its refugee camp. That figure indicates cases of arrest and not individuals. Among the 762, there were 19 cases of arrest among women, and 90 cases among children. This does not include the hundreds of Palestinians temporarily abducted during hours-long field interrogations across the occupied West Bank.
In February, Israeli authorities disclosed the martyrdom of two Palestinian men held in its custody: Musab Haniya, who lost his life on January 5, 2025, announced by the occupation on February 24, 2025. Additionally, Raafat Abu Fanouna, lost his life on February 26, 2025 which the occupation disclosed on the same day.
Since the start of the aggression on the northern occupied West Bank on January 21, 2025 Israeli forces have carried out at least 300 arrests in Jenin city and its refugee camp. Since the aggression spread to Tulkarem and its refugee camps on January 27, Israeli forces have carried out at least 200 arrests there.
Key figures until end of February & start of March 2025:
The number of Palestinians held in the occupation's military camps and central prisons exceeds 9,500 people as of the end of February and start of March 2025. These include:
Before the genocide, there was a total of 5,250 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, including 40 females, 170 children, and around 1,320 “administrative detainees.”
Since October 7, 2023 there have been 15,640 cases of arrest in the occupied West Bank. These include those who remain in detention and those who were later released.
Among those – since October 2023 - there have been at least 490 arrests of women. The 490 figure includes women arrested from the 1948-occupied territories, as well as women from Gaza who were arrested in the occupied West Bank. It does not however include dozens of other women who were abducted from the occupied Gaza Strip and are being subject to enforced disappearances.
Systematic abuses and crimes committed against Palestinian political prisoners
Alongside the never-ending mass arrest campaigns, severe crimes and violations are being committed against Palestinian detainees in an unprecedented manner in terms of frequency and intensity, including during their arrest which often involves a military raid on homes. These abuses include: severe beating and assault, terrorizing detainees and their families, intentional widespread destruction of homes and all belongings, theft of vehicles, money, and gold jewelry. This also includes widespread destruction to infrastructure, specifically in the refugee camps of Tulkarem, Jenin and Tubas. Homes of political prisoners and martyrs are also demolished, their family members are used as human shields and as hostages to pressure relatives to surrender.
Arrest cases include all individuals who were arrested from their homes, at military checkpoints, those who were forced to surrender under pressure, and those who were detained as hostages. In addition to the mass arrest campaigns, occupation forces also carried out field executions of those they were arresting, as well as their family members.
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Martyred detainees
At least 62 identified Palestinian political prisoners were killed and martyred in Israeli custody since October 7, 2023. This figure includes 40 people who were abducted from Gaza. It does not include the dozens of unidentified detainees who were arrested from Gaza and were killed in circumstances unknown to lawyers and Palestinian prisoners’ institutions. The Israeli occupation continues to withhold information about their fates, identities and where they are being held, leaving their loved ones in the dark.
Among the 62, the bodies of only two detainees have been returned to their families for burial. The remaining bodies of 60 martyred detainees continue to be withheld by occupation authorities in violation of international law.
The total number of identified martyred Palestinian detainees whose bodies are withheld by the occupation since 1967, is 71 people.
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Political prisoner releases in February 2025
Four out of seven batches of detainees were released in February 2025 as part the first phase of the ceasefire and prisoner exchange deal, during which a total of 1,777 Palestinian political prisoners were freed.
The majority of Palestinian prisoners who were released after the genocide suffer from health problems, requiring many of them to be transferred to hospitals. This is due to the severe crimes and abuses being practiced against them which prisoners’ institutions have been documenting for over a year and a half. The most practiced crimes include torture, severe beatings, deprivation of medical care, enforced starvation, sexual assault, and systematic abuse, humiliation among many other things. The severe beatings carried out by prison suppression units aim to either kill the prisoners or cause them life-long injuries and health problems that are difficult to treat later. As part of its policy to terrorize released prisoners, the Israeli prison administration placed wristbands on them bearing threatening words of vengeance.
Prisoner groups emphasize that time is the key factor affecting the fate and lives of the prisoners. The longer they remain in Israeli custody, the greater the risk is to their fate and lives, given the scale of the crimes they are subjected to.
Key reports, statements, and documents issued by Palestinian prisoner’s groups during February 2025: