Ramallah, ALRAY - The number of Palestinians who are being held under administrative detention without charge has exceeded 1,016, including six children and one woman – the highest since 2003, a Palestinian prisoners' rights organization found.

The Palestinian Prisoners Club (PPC) said that the Israeli occupation has issued nearly 800 administrative detention orders against Palestinians since the start of 2023.

Administrative detention is a widely-condemned form of imprisonment that allows the Israeli occupation to hold Palestinians without charge or trial for renewable periods of time based on "secret evidence."

In January 2022, there were around 500 Palestinians held by the Israeli occupation under administrative detention without charge. By the end of last year, the number has jumped to over 850, the club added in its report.

Over the past year, the Israeli occupation has issued approximately 13,000 administrative detention orders against Palestinians, according to the report.

In 2022, the Israeli occupation authorities issued 2,409 administrative detention orders against Palestinians – the highest compared with previous years.

The advocacy group pointed out that about 80 per cent of Palestinian administrative detainees are ex-detainees who had previously been jailed by the Israeli occupation authorities.