prisoners"serving lengthy jail terms"-who might that be?...would that be terrorists with blood on their hands?Life's unfair- cant even trust israel! when you lay down with dogs you get up with fleas although some journalists cant tell a dog from a flea!

It seems to me that it causes so much problems. The whole of the past two years has been taken up with exchangement arrangements for ONE soldier. Even the Pals say that the kidnappings are the only way for them to go to get their Terro "brotherers and sisters"released from Israel Jails . So straight after Shalit is swapped I promise you there will be another kidnapping somewhere somehow . Please dont waste time and risk Israeli soldiers lives by taking prisoners . Just accept the terror and move on after each attack .Do like in Sderot . Take the incoming and smile .

As of May 2008, Israel is holding at least 730 Palestinians in administrative detention. Most of them are held in facilities run by the Israel Prison Service (IPS). Administrative Detention as an Alternative to Criminal Proceedings: The authorities use administrative detention as a quick and efficient alternative to criminal trial, primarily when they do not have sufficient evidence to charge the individual, or when they do not want to reveal their evidence. This use of administrative detention is absolutely prohibited and totally blurs the distinction between preventive and punitive detention. Detention of Political Opponents: Israel administratively detains Palestinians for their political opinions and non-violent political activity. Following the signing of the Oslo Accords, Israel also administratively detained Palestinians who opposed the peace process. In this way, the authorities expand greatly the meaning of danger to "security of the area" by flagrantly violating freedom of expression and opinion, which are guaranteed under international law.

Captured terrorists should be put to death and corpses returned shortly after capture. Prisoners cost the Israeli taxpayer too much money in housing and food.

Lack of Due Process: In some cases, the detainee does not receive the administrative detention order upon arrest and is transferred directly to a detention center. Administrative detainees are not given the reasons for their detention or any opportunity to refute the suspicions against them. In most cases, the only explanation given to the detainee is that he is "a senior activist in the PFLP" (or Hamas, etc.). Although the detainee ostensibly can appeal the detention, in practice he is not given a meaningful opportunity to defend himself because the evidence against him is not revealed to him or his attorney. The general rule is that the evidence is classified, and, to the best of our knowledge, in no case has a military court or the Supreme Court ordered any of the classified evidence to be revealed. The reliance on secret evidence demonstrates a total, unquestioning trust in the General Security Service and its judgment. This trust was not dampened by the many known cases in which GSS interrogators have misled and lied to judges. The systematic and extensive reliance on classified information constitutes one of the most problematic aspects of administrative detention and contradicts a principle fundamental to due process.