Israel court rejects petition for hurt woman's release

By Abdel Raouf Arnaout

JERUSALEM (AA) - The Israeli Supreme Court on Thursday rejected a legal petition filed by Palestinian prisoner Israa Jaabees to reduce her 11-year jail sentence.

Jaabees, a 32-year-old mother of one, was arrested in October 2015 after being shot at by Israeli soldiers in East Jerusalem, and getting severely burnt in an ensuing gas explosion.

Qaddoura Fares, head of the Palestinian Prisoners Club, an NGO, condemned the court's decision.

"This ruling will merely serve to legitimize the heavy-handed measures used by the Israeli security forces," he told Anadolu Agency.

According to Fares, Israeli soldiers first opened fire on Israa's vehicle, causing a gas explosion in her car and leaving her severely burnt.

"The Israeli authorities then arrested and prosecuted her based on the soldiers' claims, rather than investigating the soldiers themselves who behaved so viciously," he said.

The police accuse Jaabees of having attempted to attack Israeli soldiers with a bomb-laden vehicle -- claims she and her family vehemently deny.

Jaabees sustained serious burn injuries on several parts of her body, for which she requires a number of surgical procedures, Fares said.

According to Palestinian figures, roughly 6,400 Palestinians are currently in Israeli custody, including dozens of women and scores of minors.

About 450 of these are under what Israel calls "administrative detention" where they face neither trial nor charge.