![Palestinian children take part in a protest demanding the release of prisoners in Israeli jails in Gaza city, on November 29, 2016 [Mohammed Talatene/Apaimages]](https://i0.wp.com/d2.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/2016_11_29-Palestinian-children-take-part-in-a-protest-demanding-release-the-prisoners-in-Israeli-jails291115_MT_00-11.jpg?fit=920%2C613&ssl=1)
A total of 291 Palestinians are currently in Israeli prisons, a Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) official said on Sunday.
In a statement, Hanan Ashrawi, a PLO Executive Committee member, said: “There are currently nearly 5,900 Palestinian prisoners, including 291 children in Israeli prisons.”
The statement comes after teenaged Palestinian resistance icon Ahed al-Tamimi and her mother were released by Israeli authorities after an eight-month-long detention.
“Israel persistently violates the rights of Palestinian political prisoners while the international community turns a blind eye to such illegal behaviour and inhumane treatment,” said Ashrawi.
READ: Palestinian teen, Ahed Tamimi, released from Israeli prison
Al-Tamimi became an international icon for Palestinian resistance after she was filmed slapping an Israeli soldier during a raid on her home to arrest her brother.
Israeli forces arrested the Palestinian girl in December 2017 after a viral video showed her slapping an Israeli soldier; later an Israeli court handed down an eight-month-long sentence in March for her “attack” on an Israeli soldier.
In 2012, Istanbul’s Basaksehir Municipality had granted al-Tamimi the prestigious Hanzala Courage Award for defying Israeli soldiers after she was photographed showing her fists to the occupying forces.