Gaza Herald- Palestinian prisoner rights organizations said Israeli prisons have effectively turned into arenas of torture and slow death, revealing that 32 Palestinian detainees died in custody during 2025, including a child.
The Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs, the Palestinian Prisoner Society, and Addameer, all affiliated with the PLO, reported that since October 2023, Israeli authorities have arrested 21,000 Palestinians, including 1,655 children and 650 women, excluding prisoners from Gaza and 1948-occupied territories.
Israeli authorities arrested 7,000 Palestinians, including 600 children and 200 women, in 2025, raising the total number of prisoners to over 9,300, including 3,350 administrative detainees, who make up nearly half of all prisoners.
The statement noted that Israel labeled 1,220 prisoners as “unlawful combatants,” signaling a widening of its arbitrary detention practices.
Palestinian human rights organizations reported that 32 prisoners, including 10 from Gaza, died in Israeli jails in 2025.
Since the outbreak of the genocide war, a total of 100 prisoners have died, 83 of them as a result of torture and medical neglect.
Systematic Torture
According to the report, Israel still retains the bodies of certain victims and has transformed its prisons and detention facilities into centers of systematic torture, underscoring ongoing human rights violations.
The report stated that Israeli authorities impose slow execution and solitary confinement and restrict prisoners’ basic rights, including food, healthcare, clothing, hygiene, and essential needs for children.
The report highlighted ongoing enforced disappearances of Gaza prisoners and the re-arrest of 80 Palestinians, including children and women, previously released in exchange deals.
The report pointed out that most Gaza prisoners are classified under the “unlawful combatant” law, enabling Israeli authorities to hold them for long periods without formal charges or fair trials.
Israeli violations against prisoners have escalated during its genocidal war on Gaza since October 8, 2023, which has killed around 71,000 Palestinians and injured over 171,000, mostly women and children.
