Ramallah, Oct. 6 (Petra) – Ninety-two identified Palestinian prisoners have died in Israeli prisons over the past three years, Palestinian prisoners’ organizations said Tuesday.

Speaking at a press conference and solidarity gathering for prisoners in Al-Bireh, in the central West Bank, the organizations said deaths over the past three years accounted for 28 percent of all recorded Palestinian prisoner deaths since 1967. They added that Israel continues to withhold information on the fate of dozens of Gaza detainees who have died.

The organizations said 9,300 Palestinians were being held in Israeli prisons as of the beginning of October, including 118 serving life sentences, 91 women, 350 children, and 3,101 administrative detainees. They said about half of those held are detained without charge or trial.

The groups also reported 26,000 arrests in the West Bank over the three-year period and thousands more in Gaza since the start of the Israeli assault. They said those detained in the West Bank included 800 women and more than 2,000 children.

The organizations called on the international community to protect Palestinian prisoners.

//Petra// AO