12-year-old girl among 21 Palestinian female prisoners held in Israeli prisons: Palestinian NGO

A Palestinian NGO said on Saturday that Israel continues to detain 21 Palestinian women, including a 12-year-old girl, under harsh conditions and systematic crimes inside Israeli prisons.

In a statement issued on International Women's Day, the Palestinian Prisoner Society said: “The policy of detaining Palestinian women has been one of the most prominent systematic measures employed by the Israeli occupation, historically targeting women, including minors.”

The organization revealed that the 21 detained women face “systematic abuse in Israeli prisons, particularly since the onset of Israel's genocidal war in Gaza.”

Since the start of Israel's genocidal war against Gaza on Oct. 7, 2023, human rights organizations have documented 490 cases of Palestinian women being arrested, including minors.

The NGO said that “the detention of women, especially minors, has been an unprecedented feature of Israeli tactics during the ongoing war.”

It emphasized the escalating nature of Israel's “systematic war crimes against Palestinian women in both Gaza and the West Bank.”

Tension has been running high across the West Bank, where at least 930 Palestinians have been killed and nearly 7,000 others injured in attacks by the Israeli army and illegal settlers since the start of the Gaza war on Oct. 7, 2023, according to the Health Ministry.

In July, the International Court of Justice declared Israel's long-standing occupation of Palestinian territories illegal, calling for the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.