The Palestine Center for Prisoner Studies revealed on Wednesday an unprecedented escalation by Zionist authorities in 2025 in arrest and abuse policies targeting Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, including Al-Quds. The center documented over 7,500 arrests, including approximately 600 cases involving minors.
The center stated that these arrests are part of a systematic policy aimed at destabilizing Palestinian social structures and undermining any resistance activity. It emphasized that the announced figures do not include thousands of citizens detained during mass arrest campaigns and field interrogations outside legal frameworks, who were later released after suffering abuse and maltreatment, most of them former prisoners.
Zionist authorities reportedly use arrests as a tool of collective punishment and to disrupt the daily life of Palestinians, as part of a retaliatory policy based on intimidation and coercion, in clear violation of international law, which restricts arrests to cases with strict conditions and clear charges.
Arrests of Women and Children
The center noted that the arrests targeted all segments of Palestinian society, including children, with 600 minors detained, some as young as ten years old. It highlighted the death of child prisoner Walid Ahmed, 17, from Silwad east of Ramallah, as a result of systematic starvation in the Zionist enemy's prisons, according to autopsy results.
More than 200 women were also arrested, mostly under allegations of “incitement” on social media, including elderly women, mothers, and sisters of martyrs and prisoners, as part of a policy of pressure and extortion. University students were also targeted, with some still detained and subject to administrative detention orders.
The center highlighted the re-arrest of previously released female prisoners, whether freed through exchange deals or after completing sentences, on the same charges, in clear violation of international agreements.
Abuse of Prisoners
The center confirmed that arrests are accompanied by physical and psychological abuse from the outset, including brutal home raids, terrorizing women and children using police dogs, destruction of property, theft of money and jewelry, and assaulting detainees in front of their families.
Detainees are also reportedly deprived of medication and medical tools, blindfolded, handcuffed, and taken to interrogation centers in their nightclothes, where they are subjected to beatings and mistreatment during transport.
Mass Arrests and Targeting of the Wounded
2025 saw a marked escalation in mass arrests, particularly in villages and camps, with thousands of citizens detained and interrogated in harsh conditions, and Palestinian homes converted into military barracks and interrogation centers.
Tulkarm city witnessed one of the largest arrest campaigns, with over 1,000 citizens—including children, women, and the elderly—detained in a single day. The center also reported that Zionist forces deliberately shot young people before arresting them, transporting them without medical aid, and interrogating them before treatment, resulting in the deaths of some injured individuals.
Arrests in Gaza
The center confirmed that the arrest policy extended to the Gaza Strip in 2025, with hundreds of citizens detained, especially in Rafah and northern Gaza, whether during displacement attempts, while seeking aid, or during work activities such as fishing.
The Palestine Center for Prisoner Studies concluded that over 14,000 Palestinians from Gaza were arrested during the war of genocide, most of whom have been released, while around 1,800 detainees remain in custody, with enforced disappearance practices ongoing.
