5,700 Palestinians arrested by Israeli forces since 2017

Nearly 5,700 Palestinians were kidnapped by the Israeli occupation forces since the start of 2017, PIC quoted a human rights group as saying Sunday.

According to the head of the Palestine Prisoners Center for Studies, Rafat Hamdouna, the highest number of arrests was recorded in June with an estimated 880 Palestinians.

Hamdouna said the list of the 2017 arrestees includes 1,980 from the occupied old city of al-Quds ('Jerusalem').

Hundreds were only released following exhaustive investigation while hundreds of others have been sent to jail.

Hamdouna said Palestinians are typically arrested in overnight abduction sweeps and home break-is carried out by the occupation army or at military checkpoint abruptly pitched across the occupied territories.

Hamdouna called on the international human rights institutions to take urgent responses over such arbitrary mass abductions against the Palestinians and to appeal to international courts so as to have Israel impeached over its ceaseless violations.

He also pushed for stepping up international pressure so as to urge the Israeli occupation to cease its arbitrary arrests of Palestinians, administrative detention, with neither charge nor trial, and imprisonment of Palestinian MPs.