How many Palestinian prisoners are there?
There is no definitive number on how many Palestinian prisoners are being held by Israel. Using numbers provided by the Israeli government, the Israeli human rights group B’Tselem states that as of October 30, 2007, there were 8,718 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons or detention camps. On November 3, 2007, The Associated Press and Jerusalem Post put the number at more than 12,000.2 Of these prisoners, 317 are children under the age of 18 and 143 are women.3 Among the total number of prisoners are 433 Palestinians who were imprisoned prior to the signing of the Oslo Accords. They remain in prison despite the Accords’ call for their release.4 The number also include members of the elected Palestinian Legislative Council.
