Israel arrests two high-ranking Fatah figures in al-Quds

Israeli military forces have arrested two distinguished officials from the Fatah movement during separate operations across the occupied Jerusalem al-Quds.

News ID: 448275

Date: 02 January 2020 - 11:43

RNA - Local sources, requesting not to be named, told Palestine's official WAFA news agency that Israeli forces also arrested the Secretary of the Fatah movement in Jerusalem al-Quds, Shadi Mutawar, in Wadi al-Joz neighborhood of East Jerusalem al-Quds on Wednesday noon.

The arrest came hours after Israeli troops raided Mutawar’s house, and handed his family a summons order.

Early on Wednesday, the secretary of the Fatah movement in al- Isawiyah neighborhood in East Jerusalem al-Quds, Yasser Darwish, was detained at his home.

A third Fatah official, whose identity was not immediately available, was also summoned for interrogation at a police station in Jerusalem al-Quds.

The development came as Fatah marked the 55th anniversary of its establishment in the West Bank city of Ramallah on Tuesday evening.

The celebration was held near the tomb of late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, founder of the faction, with the participation of senior officials of the faction and the Palestinian Authority.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said the Palestinian revolution, which started in 1965, is still going on until today "and will continue until achieving victory."

“Many expected that we will finish on the first day or the first year, and many conspiracies had been plotted against us, but instead of being finished, we found ourselves stronger than before,” Abbas said.

A number of Palestinian rights groups announced in a statement on December 30 that Israeli military forces had arrested more than 5,500 Palestinians, including 889 children and 128 girls and women, across the occupied West Bank throughout the year 2019.

The Palestinian groups, including the Palestinian Prisoners Society (PPS), said the number of Palestinian detainees being kept behind bars in Israeli detention centers stood at around 5,000, including 50 women and 200 children.

Approximately 450 inmates were under the so-called administrative detention, which is a sort of imprisonment without trial or charge that allows Israel to incarcerate Palestinians for up to six months, extendable an infinite number of times.

The statement added that around 700 of the prisoners suffer from various illnesses, and that there are 10 cancer patients and 200 others with chronic diseases among them.

“In 2019, Israeli authorities intensified arbitrary arrest campaigns against women and children, who suffered various forms of torture both during and after arrest,” it read.

The statement further noted that five Palestinian detainees died in Israeli prisons due to lack of proper medical treatment and deliberate medical negligence in 2019.

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