Palestinian Activist Succumbs to Injuries Sustained During “Israeli” Imprisonment

By Staff, Agencies

Wafa Jarrar, a female Palestinian activist, succumbed to injuries on Monday that she sustained during an “Israeli” raid on her home in May.

Jarrar was severely injured when “Israeli” forces detained her on May 21. Her injuries were so severe that she underwent above-knee amputations. The “Israeli” authorities released her shortly after her legs were amputated to avoid responsibility for her treatment.

The “Israeli” army claimed that Jarrar was injured in a blast inside a military vehicle, where she was detained for four hours.

Despite this claim, the apartheid “Israeli” entity issued an “administrative detention” order against Jarrar before releasing her to the Palestinian Liaison Office while she was in critical condition.

Last month, the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor held the “Israeli” army fully responsible for Jarrar's life and safety.

“This is a clear effort by ‘Israel’s’ army to avoid taking responsibility for the serious injuries Jarrar sustained during her detention, which resulted in the amputation of her legs above the knees, as well as damage to her spine and lungs, and to avoid its legal obligation to provide the necessary medical treatment,” the Monitor said on July 1.

“What Jarrar, age 49, was subjected to from the first moment of her arrest until her release reflects the repeated and systematic violations faced by Palestinians during their detention by ‘Israeli’ forces, including arbitrary arrests, abuse, use as human shields, torture, and denial of medical care," the statement added.

Wafa Jarrar was the wife of Hamas leader Abdul Jabbar Jarrar, who has been held in “Israeli” jails since February 2022 under the so-called “administrative detention” policy.

There are over 8,000 Palestinians held in “Israeli” jails, with hundreds incarcerated under “administrative detention.” Human rights organizations say the apartheid “Israeli” entity violates all rights and freedoms granted to prisoners by the Fourth Geneva Convention.

“Administrative detention” violates their right to due process since evidence is withheld from prisoners while they are held for lengthy periods without being charged, tried, or convicted.

Palestinian detainees have continuously resorted to open-ended hunger strikes to protest their detention. “Israeli” jail authorities keep Palestinian prisoners under deplorable conditions, lacking proper hygienic standards, and subject them to systematic torture, harassment, and repression.

Since the outbreak of the “Israeli” entity’s genocidal war on Gaza last October, the entity has intensified arrest campaigns in the West Bank and Al-Quds [“Jerusalem”].

In a report issued over the weekend, the Commission of Detainees’ and Ex-detainees’ Affairs, the Palestinian Prisoners Society, and the Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association stated that “Israeli” forces had detained about 9,920 people, including 345 women, 690 children, and 93 journalists, since October 7.

More than 7,500 “administrative detention” orders have been issued since October 7, including new orders and renewals. The “Israeli” arrest campaigns were also accompanied by physical assaults, threats against detainees and their families, destruction of detainees’ houses and seizure of their properties.

The report added that “Israeli” forces carried out field executions against detainees and their family members. “Since October 7, at least 20 detainees were martyred in ‘Israeli’ prisons, and their identities have been revealed,” the report said, adding that dozens of detainees from Gaza also lost their lives in “Israeli” prisons and detention centers, but the “Israeli” authorities refrained from declaring their names or the causes of their death.

“The bodies of 18 detainees who were martyred after October 7 are still withheld” by the “Israeli” entity, the report stated.

“Israeli” occupation forces regularly seize Palestinians’ bodies to prevent funerals in Palestinian towns or to use them in negotiations to retrieve the bodies of “Israeli” soldiers held by resistance groups.