More than 1000 Palestinian citizens of Israel have been arrested by the Israeli police since the country's military offensive in Gaza began in early July, on August 5. The article said the figure came from a lawyer representing a number of the detainees.
Dozens are currently being held without charge. Al Jazeera said many say they have been detained based on policemen's "lies", while some have been beaten to the point of needing medical care.
Maisa Arshid, an attorney for dozens of the detainees, said that the crackdown on Palestinian citizens is only getting worse, with 20 to 30 Palestinians getting picked up every week in the Nazareth area alone.
"All of them are accused of participating in illegal demonstrations," Arshid told Al Jazeera, adding that "part of these demos were permitted by the police themselves".
In many cases, the Israeli authorities have presented no evidence that the accused have participated in a protest other than a police officer's word. Arshid also said that the police frequently hold people for short periods without registering their detention, likely putting the number of those who have been picked up by the police even higher than 1000.
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