BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- A report published on Monday has found that over 3,000 Palestinians were arrested by Israel's military in 2011. Researcher on prisoner affairs Abdul Nasser Ferwaneh said that the average number of arrests in 2011 numbered 276 per month, or around nine a day. A total of 3,312 Palestinians were arrested by Israeli authorities in 2011, 113 of whom were prisoners released in the October exchange deal between Hamas and Israel. The detainees represented a cross section of Palestinian society, Ferwaneh said. The number of annual arrests has actually decreased, Ferwaneh added, noting that in 2007 a total of 7,612 people were arrested by Israel military forces. Ramallah based prisoner group Addameer said in early December that Israel had detained nearly the same number of Palestinians they had freed in the first stage of a prisoner exchange deal. Israeli forces detained nearly 470 Palestinians since the Oct. 18 release of 477 prisoners from Israeli jail in exchange for captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, Ramallah-based rights group Addameer said. "This wave of arrests reveals that the exchange deal has not deterred Israel’s policy of detention of Palestinians; rather, Israeli prisons are being refilled with almost the exact number of Palestinians that were released in October," the prisoners group had said. Palestinians are routinely arrested by Israeli forces, with some being interrogated for hours and others detained for months or years. There are currently 283 administrative detainees who are being held without charge in Israeli jails in a practice started under British mandate rule. A total of 4,937 Palestinians are being detained by Israel, according to latest figures collected by Addameer. Israel has occupied the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem since 1967.
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