The two institutions specializing in prisoners' affairs said in a joint statement that the Palestinian General Authority for Civil Affairs, as the official contact with the Israeli side, informed them of the "martyrdom of Abdul Rahman Sufian Muhammad Al-Sabateen (21 years old) in the occupation prisons, who is from the town of Husan in the Bethlehem Governorate, south of the West Bank."
The statement noted that Sabatin "was arrested on June 24, 2025, and died in the Israeli Shaare Zedek Hospital."
He pointed out that “the death of Al-Sabateen came in the context of escalating crimes and violations against Palestinian prisoners inside Israeli prisons during the past months. Palestinian and Israeli human rights organizations have documented an increase in deaths and harsh detention conditions, including denial of treatment and ill-treatment.”
The statement said that "with the martyrdom of the two Sabatin, the number of martyrs of the prisoner movement since the beginning of the war of extermination has exceeded one hundred, and this is not a final number."
He added: “The (concerned) institutions announced the identities of 85 of them, while dozens of Gaza martyrs remain forcibly disappeared, along with dozens of detainees who were summarily executed.” He pointed out that “the number of martyrs of the prisoner movement since 1967 (whose identities have been known) has risen to 322.”
"A slow death"
For its part, Hamas said that the death of Palestinian prisoner Abdul Rahman al-Sabateen (21 years old) in Israeli prisons represents "a new crime and new evidence of the policy of slow killing" against Palestinian prisoners.
The movement added in a statement that "the martyrdom of prisoner Abdul Rahman Sufian Muhammad Al-Sabateen from the town of Husan in the Bethlehem Governorate (southern West Bank), after his health condition deteriorated in the occupation prisons, represents a new crime added to the record of horrific violations committed by the prison administration against Palestinian prisoners."
She stressed that the announcement of the death of prisoner Al-Sabateen “is further evidence of the policy of slow killing pursued by the occupation against prisoners, through torture, ill-treatment, starvation and deliberate medical neglect, under harsh detention conditions and escalating violations since the start of the war on Gaza.”
Widespread arrests
Meanwhile, the Israeli occupation army launched a large-scale arrest campaign on Wednesday in the northern and eastern West Bank, targeting about 100 Palestinians, including released prisoners, leaders and activists from Hamas and the Popular Front.
According to eyewitnesses, Israeli military forces stormed the cities of Nablus and Salfit, towns in Jenin, Tulkarm and Qalqilya (north), the city of Jericho (east), and the towns of Al-Eizariya and Abu Dis, east of Jerusalem.
Among those arrested was Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education in the tenth Palestinian government, Nasser al-Din al-Shaer, who was detained and interrogated in the field before being released hours later. Also arrested was former prisoner Muhammad al-Arda from his home in the town of Arraba, south of Jenin.
764 settlement units
In a related context, Israeli authorities onWednesday approved the construction of 764 new settlement units in the West Bank, bringing the total number approved by the current government headed by Benjamin Netanyahu to 51,370 units since it took power at the end of 2022.
Channel 7 Hebrew News reported that "the Higher Planning Council (of the Israeli Civil Administration) approved on Wednesday plans to build 764 new housing units in the West Bank."
According to data from the Israeli Peace Now movement, more than 700,000 settlers live in the West Bank, including about 250,000 in East Jerusalem.
The United Nations affirms that settlement activity in the occupied Palestinian territories is illegal, undermines the possibility of implementing a two-state solution (Palestinian and Israeli), and has been calling for its cessation for decades without success.
On October 22, the Israeli Knesset (parliament) approved in a preliminary reading a "draft law" to annex the West Bank, a move that drew numerous regional and international condemnations and criticisms.
These views come amid escalating Israeli military operations in the West Bank in recent weeks, accompanied by intensive raids and arrests in several cities and towns, amid growing tension in the region.
The West Bank is witnessing an unprecedented escalation in attacks by the Israeli occupation army and settlers, two years after the Israeli war of extermination in Gaza.
The attacks targeted Palestinians, their property and livelihoods, resulting in the martyrdom of 1,092 Palestinians, in addition to about 11,000 wounded and more than 21,000 arrests, according to official data.
