Palestinian leader Khalida Jarrar faces abuse campaign in Israeli custody: Rights group

A Palestinian human rights organization said Wednesday that Khalida Jarrar, a prominent Palestinian leader who is being held in Israel's Ramla Prison, is enduring a campaign of systematic abuse that threatens her life.

The Handala Center for Prisoners and Ex-prisoners said in a statement that Jarrar, a leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, has been subjected to harsh conditions in Israeli prisons.

She has been held in solitary confinement for 93 days and is facing a systematic campaign of mistreatment that jeopardizes her well-being.

Jarrar lives in a cramped, poorly ventilated cell with no necessities like water or light, turning her detention room into something akin to a tomb, according to the group.

Noting that Jarrar has nothing to do but lie next to the door to inhale the little oxygen available in the suffocating room, it highlighted the cruelty faced by prisoners in Israeli custody.

The Center demanded urgent international and human rights intervention to save Jarrar's life and all prisoners held by Israel.

Jarrar was arrested Dec. 26, 2023, at her home in Ramallah in the West Bank and placed under administrative detention, meaning without charges. She was later isolated as a punitive measure, according to the Palestinian Prisoners' Club.

Jarrar, a key figure in the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, the second-largest faction in the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), was also a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council. She has been arrested multiple times by Israeli authorities.

Israel currently holds 97 women prisoners, most of whom are incarcerated at the Damon Prison north of Israel, according to the Palestinian Prisoners' Club.

Tensions have been running high across the occupied West Bank because of Israel's brutal offensive against the Gaza Strip, which has killed more than 43,700 Palestinians, mostly women and children, since Oct. 7, 2023.

More than 780 Palestinians have since been killed and nearly 6,300 injured by Israeli army fire in the occupied territory, according to the Health Ministry.

The escalation follows a landmark opinion in July by the International Court of Justice that declared Israel's decades-long occupation of Palestinian land "illegal" and demanded the evacuation of all existing settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.