Newly released figures indicate that the number of the Palestinian prisoners held captive in Israeli jails in the so-called administrative detention has doubled over the past year.

Local media outlets reported Sunday that the Israeli regime is currently holding 391 Palestinians in administrative detention, a two-fold increase compared to similar figures released in the summer of 2014.

The substantial hike in the number of the Palestinians held captive indefinitely without charge or any legal proceedings in administrative detention comes as a result of a decision by the Israeli military to lower the requirements for enforcing such kinds of detentions.

“The military prosecution in the West Bank has made a conscious decision to lower the bar for the evidence required to hold a prisoner without trial,” Israeli daily Haaretz reported Sunday, citing sources in the Israeli military prosecutor’s office as well as Palestinian defense lawyers.

According to the report, the decision mainly targets those Palestinian captives affiliated with the Gaza-based Hamas resistance movement in a bid to undermine the rising influence of the group in the West Bank.

Over the past years, Palestinians held captive in various Israeli prisons have resorted to hunger strikes as a way to protest their illegal detention.

The Palestinian prisoners committee has repeatedly warned about the deteriorating health conditions of the prisoners that go on hunger strike.

Israeli regime forces routinely arrest Palestinians in the West Bank and keep them behind bars for at least six months in administrative detention. The detention order can be renewed for indefinite periods of time.

More than 7,000 Palestinians are reportedly incarcerated in 17 Israeli prisons and detention centers, many of them without charge or trial.

By Press TV