Israel carries out 15,700 political arrests of Palestinians in West Bank since Gaza genocide

March 18, 2025

Ramallah, Palestine – The Israeli occupation army has carried out 15,700 political arrests of Palestinians across the West Bank and Jerusalem since the start of the genocide in Gaza in October 2023, prisoner institutions said in a briefing today.

This figure does not represent the number of individuals arrested, but rather cases of arrest. It includes those who remain in detention, and those who were later released. It does not include the total number of arrests from occupied Gaza, which is estimated to be in the thousands.

Among the 15,700, there have been approximately 500 cases of arrest among Palestinian women in the West Bank, at least 1,200 cases of arrest among Palestinian children, and at least 170 cases of arrest amid journalists.

The number of Palestinians held in the occupation's military camps and central prisons exceeds 9,500 people as of the start of March 2025, not including all of those abducted from Gaza.

Please find a short briefing paper in English below breaking down the facts and figures👇🏼

Israel carries out 15,700 political arrests of Palestinians in West Bank since start of Gaza genocide

 

Palestinian Prisoner’s Society, Commission of Detainees’ Affairs & Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association

 

March 18, 2025

 

Ramallah, Palestine – The Israeli occupation army has carried out 15,700 political arrests of Palestinians across the West Bank and Jerusalem since the start of the genocide in October 2023. This figure does not represent the number of individuals arrested, but rather cases of arrest. It includes those who remain in detention, and those who were later released. It does not include the total number of arrests from occupied Gaza, which is estimated to be in the thousands.

 

• Women: There have been approximately 500 cases of arrest among Palestinian females in the West Bank. The 500 figure includes women arrested from the 1948-occupied territories, as well as women from Gaza who were arrested in the occupied West Bank. It does not however include dozens of other women who were abducted from the occupied Gaza Strip and are being subject to enforced disappearances.

 

• Children: There have been at least 1,200 cases of arrest among Palestinian minors.

 

• Journalists: Arrests among journalists reached more than 170 cases of arrest, of whom 51 remain in detention, including two female journalists.

 

Key figures until start of March 2025

 

The number of Palestinians held in the occupation's military camps and central prisons exceeds 9,500 people as of the end of February and start of March 2025.

 

These include:

• At least 350 children and 26 females including one minor.
• 3,405 Palestinians are being held without trial or charge, under the ‘administrative detention’ military order.
• 1,555 Palestinians abducted from the occupied Gaza Strip and are being held without trial or charge under the Israeli “illegal combatants” law. Note that this figure does not include all Gaza detainees, particularly those held in the occupation’s military camps.

 

Before the genocide, there was a total of 5,250 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, including 40 females, 170 children, and around 1,320 “administrative detainees.”