Rights Organizations Slam Israel's Administrative Detentions, Use of spyware Against Palestinians

Mother of Miqdad Qawasmeh, who has been on a hunger strike for more than 100 days, speaks with him over the phone (Reuters)
Mother of Miqdad Qawasmeh, who has been on a hunger strike for more than 100 days, speaks with him over the phone (Reuters)
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Rights Organizations Slam Israel's Administrative Detentions, Use of spyware Against Palestinians

Mother of Miqdad Qawasmeh, who has been on a hunger strike for more than 100 days, speaks with him over the phone (Reuters)
Mother of Miqdad Qawasmeh, who has been on a hunger strike for more than 100 days, speaks with him over the phone (Reuters)

Several human rights groups in Israel demanded an end to administrative detentions orders and condemned the hacking of Palestinians with NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware.

The Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) requested the government’s judicial advisor to instantly halt the use of Pegasus spyware against the Palestinians defending human rights.

A number of other Israeli human rights groups made the same request.

“Israel has created a legal reality for Palestinians, imprisoning hundreds without trial for an indefinite period of time on the grounds that they intend to commit a future offense,” Israeli human rights group B'Tselem said.

The group said that “Israeli judges, who are supposed to review the administrative detention orders, approve the vast majority of them, merely lending the proceedings a veneer of respectability and a semblance of judicial oversight.”

B'Tselem revealed that “the government, senior military commanders, the Israel Security Agency, the Military Advocate General’s Corps, the State Attorney’s Office, the military judges and the Supreme Court justices – are all complicit in maintaining this policy and are the ones responsible for its implementation.”

It demanded the release of all administrative detainees, more than 700 Palestinians. It, particularly, called for the release of the six Palestinians who are currently on hunger strike to protest their administrative detention.

Kayed Fasfous, 32, a father of a seven-year-old from Dura, has been on a hunger strike for 118 days. He is in hospital following a lengthy hunger strike that affected his health.

Miqdad Qawasmeh, 24, from Hebron, has been on a hunger strike for 111 days. He is in hospital after his health deteriorated.

Alaa al-A’araj, 34, a father of a five-year-old from Tulkarm, has been on hunger strike for 93 days. Hisham Abu Hawash, 39, a father of five from Dura, has been on a hunger strike for 84 days. They are both treated alternately in the infirmary at Ramla Prison and in hospital.

Ayad al-Harimi, 28, from Bethlehem, has been on hunger strike for 48 days. He has been transferred from Ofer Prison to the infirmary at Ramla Prison, as the lengthy hunger strike has caused his health to deteriorate.

Luai al-Ashqar, 45, a father of eight from Saida, has been on a hunger strike for 30 days. He is detained in Megiddo Prison.



Schools Closed in Beirut after Deadly Israeli Strike

Firefighters douse flames at the site of an Israeli strike on a building in the Lebanese capital - AFP
Firefighters douse flames at the site of an Israeli strike on a building in the Lebanese capital - AFP
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Schools Closed in Beirut after Deadly Israeli Strike

Firefighters douse flames at the site of an Israeli strike on a building in the Lebanese capital - AFP
Firefighters douse flames at the site of an Israeli strike on a building in the Lebanese capital - AFP

Schools in Beirut were closed on Monday after Israeli strikes on the Lebanese capital killed six people including Hezbollah's spokesman, the latest in a string of top militant targets slain in the war.

Israel escalated its bombardment of Hezbollah strongholds in late September, vowing to secure its northern border with Lebanon to allow Israelis displaced by cross-border fire to return home.

Sunday's strikes hit densely populated districts of central Beirut that had so far been spared the violence engulfing other areas of Lebanon.

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The strikes prompted the education ministry to shut schools and higher education institutions in the Beirut area for two days.

Children and young people around Lebanon have been heavily impacted by the war, which has seen schools around the country turned into shelters for the displaced.

Lebanese authorities say more than 3,480 people have been killed since October last year, with most casualties recorded since September.

Israel says 48 soldiers have been killed fighting Hezbollah, AFP reported.

Another strike hit a busy shopping district of Beirut, sparking a huge blaze that engulfed part of a building and several shops nearby.

Lebanon's National News Agency said the fire had largely been extinguished by Monday morning, noting it had caused diesel fuel tanks to explode.

"In a quarter of an hour our whole life's work was lost," said Shukri Fuad, who owned a shop destroyed in the strike.

Ayman Darwish worked at an electronics shop that was hit.

"Everyone knows us, everyone knows this area is a civilian area, no one is armed here," he said.

One of those killed in the strike, Darwish said, was the son of the owner of the store where he worked.

"The martyr Mahmud used to come after working hours, in the evenings and even on Sundays, to deal with client requests," he said.

The NNA reported new strikes early Monday on locations around south Lebanon, long a stronghold of Hezbollah.