DaysofPal – A new report by Israel’s Public Defender’s Office reveals that Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli detention face extreme hunger, systematic violence, and severe overcrowding, with conditions deteriorating sharply since October 2023.
The report, based on multiple inspections of detention facilities in 2023 and 2024, highlights the introduction of a sparse, separate menu for “security prisoners,” a category primarily encompassing Palestinians, which has left many malnourished.
Released prisoners told media outlets and rights groups that meals sometimes consisted of a tiny portion of undercooked rice shared among several inmates for an entire day, while others went days without food. The resulting hunger is described as “severe, manifested in extreme weight loss and associated physical symptoms, including extreme weakness and fainting.”
During visits, public defender representatives repeatedly observed prisoners showing signs of severe malnutrition and dehydration, with many appearing dangerously thin. Despite a Supreme Court ruling in September ordering the state to provide adequate food, conditions reportedly have not improved, and some prisoners claimed rations had even been reduced.
Systematic Violence by Prison Staff
The report also documents widespread, systematic violence by Israeli prison staff. Prisoners reported frequent cell searches accompanied by physical abuse, beatings during transfers between wings, and mistreatment during court appearances. The public defender noted that these acts of violence were not provoked by any specific incidents requiring force.
Human rights organizations and the media have documented unprecedented levels of systematic abuse and torture of Palestinians detained by Israel since October 2023.
At least 100 prisoner deaths have been reported under these conditions, primarily civilians, amid reports of physical abuse, sexual assault, medical neglect, and starvation. The circumstances of these deaths have largely remained secret, and no accountability measures have been taken.
The report attributes the crisis to a sweeping arrest campaign launched after the Gaza war began in 2023, which pushed the Israeli prison system into extreme overcrowding. The number of detainees rose by 3,000 in just two months, reaching around 23,000 by the end of 2024, despite an official capacity of 14,500.
Around 90 percent of Palestinian prisoners were confined to spaces smaller than three square meters, with thousands lacking beds and often sleeping on mattresses on the floor.
Many were held for 23 hours a day in dark, poorly ventilated cells with inadequate sanitation, stripped of belongings except for a Quran. Prisoners struggled to maintain hygiene due to shortages of basic items such as toilet paper, soap, and towels. The report also noted scabies outbreaks in several Palestinian wings, sometimes reaching near-epidemic levels.
Ongoing Detention and Administrative Orders
Palestinian prisoner-monitoring groups report that these conditions have persisted even after the Gaza ceasefire last month. Currently, at least 9,250 Palestinians are held in Israeli jails, though the true figure is likely higher, as Israel withholds information on hundreds of individuals abducted from Gaza. Nearly half of all Palestinian detainees are held without charge or trial under indefinitely renewable administrative detention orders.
The Public Defender’s report said that a prison system plagued by overcrowding, systematic abuse, and a failure to meet even basic humanitarian standards puts Palestinian prisoners at high risk of malnourishment, illness, and long-term physical and psychological harm.
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