Jerusalem: Israeli authorities have placed Palestinian detainee Nabil Mohammad Bani Nemra, 39, from Salfit, under four months of administrative detention, without charges or trial, on the same day he was scheduled to be released after serving 12 years in prison.
According to Palestine News and Information Agency - WAFA, the Palestinian Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoner's Society expressed that his family received the decision with shock, as they had been awaiting his release after many years of imprisonment. The two institutions stated that the move reflects policies of repression and retaliation practiced by Israeli authorities against detainees and their families.
They highlighted that Bani Nemra had previously spent three years in prison before his latest detention, bringing his total years of imprisonment to 15.
In a joint statement issued on Thursday, the two organizations remarked that the decision exemplifies one of the forms of psychological pressure and punishment associated with Israel's administrative detention policy, under which Palestinians can be held without charge or trial based on a 'secret file.'
They further indicated that while administrative detention is not a new policy, its use has escalated significantly since the outbreak of the war in Gaza, with Israeli prisons becoming sites of systematic mistreatment against detainees, including women and children.
The two institutions reported that the number of Palestinians held under administrative detention has reached more than 3,500 detainees as of April, including women and minors, representing the largest proportion of prisoners in Israeli jails, with about 50% held without formal charges.
