Gaza Herald_ A new report by Israel’s Public Defender’s Office has revealed that Palestinian detainees are facing extreme hunger, severe overcrowding, and routine violence inside Israeli prisons.
The document, which follows multiple inspections of detention centres throughout 2023 and 2024, indicates that conditions have sharply deteriorated since October 2023.
According to the findings, the Israel Prison Service (IPS) implemented a separate and significantly reduced food menu for so-called “security prisoners”, a category overwhelmingly applied to Palestinians, leaving many suffering from acute malnutrition.
Former detainees told rights organisations and media outlets that daily meals sometimes consisted of a small, undercooked portion of rice shared among several inmates, while others went entire days without food.
The report described the resulting hunger as “severe,” noting dramatic weight loss, fainting, and other symptoms linked to starvation. Inspectors repeatedly witnessed inmates appearing dangerously thin and dehydrated during visits.
Despite a Supreme Court order in September requiring the state to provide adequate nutrition, conditions reportedly remain unchanged, with some prisoners saying their rations have been reduced even further.
Widespread Violence
The Public Defender’s Office also documented pervasive and unprovoked violence by prison personnel.
Detainees described routine beatings during cell searches, assaults while being moved between wings, and abuse during transfers to court hearings and other locations.
The report noted that this violence did not correspond to any security incidents that would justify the use of force.
Deaths and Torture Allegations
These findings come amid extensive documentation by journalists and human rights groups of systematic abuse and torture of Palestinians in Israeli custody since October 2023, levels described as unprecedented.
At least 100 prisoners have died under these conditions, according to Israeli data cited in the report.
These deaths occurred amid widespread reports of physical assault, sexual violence, medical neglect, and starvation. Most of those who died were civilians.
Israeli authorities have kept the circumstances of these deaths secret, and none have resulted in legal accountability.
Extreme Overcrowding
The report states that Israel launched a mass arrest campaign after the Gaza war began, pushing the prison system far beyond capacity.
IPS detainee numbers increased by 3,000 in just two months, and by the end of 2024, the prison population had reached around 23,000 inmates, Palestinian and criminal, despite an official capacity of only 14,500.
This led to what the Public Defender described as unprecedented overcrowding.
Around 90 percent of Palestinian detainees were confined to spaces smaller than three square metres, with thousands left without beds.
Many were held for 23 hours a day, sleeping on thin mattresses on the floor in dark, poorly ventilated cells with inadequate sanitation.
Cells were stripped of all belongings except a Quran, and inmates faced shortages of basic hygiene items such as toilet paper, soap, and towels.
Scabies outbreaks were reported in multiple Palestinian sections, at times nearing epidemic levels.
Ongoing After the Ceasefire
Palestinian prisoner-monitoring groups say these conditions persist even after last month’s Gaza ceasefire.
At least 9,250 Palestinians are officially held in Israeli prisons, though the actual number is believed to be higher, as Israel withholds information on hundreds of detainees taken from Gaza.
Nearly half of all Palestinian prisoners are held without charge or trial under indefinitely renewable administrative detention orders.
