OCCUPIES JERUSALEM — Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails are facing harsh detention conditions, including severe hunger, massive overcrowding, and poor sanitation, according to a report by Israel’s public defender’s office.
The report said reduced food allotments for Palestinian prisoners introduced after the October 7 attacks on Israel have led to “severe hunger, manifested in sharp weight loss and accompanying physical symptoms including extreme physical weakness and even fainting”, according to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz.
According to Haaretz, the public defender’s report, based on visits to Israeli detention facilities in 2023 and 2024 such as Ramon, Megiddo, Ayalon, Shatta, Eshel and Ketziot, revealed that the conditions have deteriorated sharply since Israel began its genocidal war in Gaza in October 2023.
Severe Hunger
It found that the Israel Prison Service (IPS) introduced a separate, sparse menu for “security prisoners”, which is used to describe mostly Palestinian prisoners, leaving many malnourished.
Released prisoners told media outlets and rights groups that meals sometimes consisted of a tiny portion of undercooked rice shared between several inmates for an entire day, while others went days without food.
The report described the resulting hunger as “severe, manifested in extreme weight loss and associated physical symptoms, including extreme weakness and fainting”.
During visits, representatives repeatedly observed signs of severe malnutrition and dehydration, with many inmates appearing dangerously thin.
Systematic Abuse
The report also highlighted widespread and systematic violence by prison staff.
Prisoners reported frequent cell searches accompanied by unnecessary physical abuse, and beatings during transfers between wings, when being brought to court appearances and other instances.
The Public Defender noted that the violence was not provoked by any specific events requiring force.
Overcrowding
The Public Defender’s Office said Israeli forces launched a sweeping arrest campaign after the Gaza war began in 2023, pushing the prison system into extreme overcrowding.
The number of detainees held by the IPS rose by 3,000 in just two months.
By the end of 2024, the prison population had reached around 23,000 inmates – Palestinian and criminal – despite an official capacity of 14,500, creating what the report described as unprecedented overcrowding.
Around 90 percent of Palestinian prisoners were confined to living spaces of less than three square metres, and thousands had no bed.
Prisoners were often “held for 23 hours a day in severe overcrowding, many sleeping on mattresses on the floor,” the report said.
They were kept in dark, poorly ventilated cells with stifling conditions and inadequate sanitation.
Cells were stripped of all belongings except a Quran, and inmates 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, at times reaching near-epidemic levels.
Despite Ceasefire, These Conditions Continue
According to several Palestinian prisoner-monitoring groups, these conditions have persisted even after the Gaza ceasefire was signed last month.
There are currently more than 10,800 Palestinians held in Israeli jails, including 450 children, 87 women, and 3,629 held without charge or trial.
Palestinian Detainees Die in Israeli Custody
Palestinian prisoner advocacy groups confirmed on Thursday that three Palestinaina abducted from Gaza during the genocide died in Israeli jails amid reports of torture and medical negligence.
Their deaths bring the total number of Palestinians who have died in Israeli custody since October 7, 2023, to 84, including 50 from Gaza, the groups added. The noted that the period since October 2023 has seen an “unprecedented” rise in the “systematic crimes practised in [Israeli] prisons,” making it the “bloodiest in the history of the prisoner movement since 1967”.
This brings the total number of Palestinians who have died in Israeli custody since 1967 to 321. However, they noted that the true figure is likely higher, as dozens of detainees abducted from Gaza are subjected to enforced disappearance.
The organisations said Palestinian prisoners continue to die in detention due to torture, starvation, medical neglect, sexual assault, and systematic violations of human rights.
Testimonies confirm regular beatings by Israeli guards, extreme overcrowding, humiliation, and inadequate hygiene. — QNN
