Israeli forces raid cells of Palestinian prisoners in Ofer, injure dozens

Israeli forces raid a section of Ofer Prison in January 2019

The Palestine Chronicle reports on 13 September 2020:

Israeli commandos accompanied by attack dogs raided today the cells of the Palestinian political detainees at Ofer Detention Center, southwest of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, and assaulted and injured many of them, according to the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society (PPS).

The PPS said in a statement that dozens of Palestinian prisoners were injured during the attack today in which the Israeli commandos unleashed their dogs to attack the prisoners, as well as physically assaulted them and sprayed pepper gas at them.

Dozens of prisoners were also forcibly transferred to other sections in the prison by the attacking commandos.

The Society added that this was the third such attack since the death of Palestinian detainee Daoud al-Khatib on September 2. Khatib reportedly died of a heart attack only a few months before he was supposed to be released.

Meanwhile, the PPS said there has been a surge in coronavirus cases among the Palestinian detainees in Ofer.

Palestinian officials have repeatedly called for the immediate release of the Palestinian political prisoners in Israeli detention, especially the elderly and the sick, in the aftermath of the rapidly growing coronavirus outbreak in the prisons.

Around 5,700 Palestinians, including numerous women and children, are currently detained in Israeli prisons.

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