The Palestinian Prisoners’ Center for Studies confirmed that despite the decline in the targeting of the Palestinian Legislative Council deputies, the occupation did not stop the policy of arrests against them, where it monitored 17 cases of arrests targeted legislators during the uprising in Jerusalem.

The media spokesman for the center, Riyad al-Ashqar, said that the occupation continues to detain the deputies as a political decision without any clear charge condemning them. Therefore, its trial courts impose administrative detention on them for certain periods and renew them to the administrative detention to ensure that they remain in prison for as long as possible.

Al-Ashqar added that the occupation during the two years of the uprising in Jerusalem, arrested a number of deputies for more than once so that the MP spends many months behind bars, and be released for a short time, and then re-arrested again, such as deputies Mohammed Jamal Natsheh of Hebron, and MP Mohammed Abu Tayer; who are still detained so far after being re-arrested again in the last two years.

Al-Ashqar said that the occupation continues to arrest 12 deputies in its prisons, the vast majority of them – 10 exactly – were arrested during the Jerusalem uprising, while two MPs Marwan Barghouthi and Ahmed Saadat were kidnapped since before the Jerusalem uprising. The occupation also arrested two former ministers and they were released after they finished their prison period, while MP Abd al-Rahman Zidan was arrested in Tulkarm after breaking into his house and searching him and transporting him to an unknown destination, and after being interrogated for several hours, he was released.

Al-Ashqar said that the continued detention of the deputies is a political decision with distinction, and that it comes to reduce their active role in the Palestinian street, and their participation in the activities condemning the occupation policy in the West Bank and keeping them away from their popular base that surrounds them.

He reiterated his demand that all parliaments of the world stand up to their responsibilities and press the occupation to stop violating international laws and conventions by abducting elected deputies because this is a flagrant violation of their immunity and working for their release without conditions, especially those under arbitrary administrative detention.