More than 8,000 Palestinians are being held in Israeli jails, amid an intensified wave of arrests and detentions in Gaza and the West Bank since the 7 October attacks by Hamas, according to human rights groups.
Addameer, a human rights group supporting Palestinian political prisoners, said the detainees feature hundreds from Gaza, including 123 women, though the true total from the territory could be much higher.
Earlier this month the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club, an advocacy group that keeps a tally of detainees from the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, said there were about 7,800 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, the highest total for at least 14 years.
The numbers for those held in administrative detention – indefinitely and without charge – is at a historic high, campaigners said. Eighty per cent of detainees since 7 October fall into this category, said Tala Nasir, a lawyer working with Addameer.
Earlier this month images leaked of Israeli troops overseeing dozens of Palestinian men detained in Gaza, stripped to their underwear and in some cases blindfolded and handcuffed. On Tuesday the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that hundreds of the men were being held at a military base in the south of Israel, and that several had died in unclear circumstances.
In response to questions about alleged mistreatment, the Israeli military said that detainees were “treated according to protocol” and were given enough food and water. The army spokesperson, R Adm Daniel Hagari, said that arrests took place in two Hamas strongholds in northern Gaza and that detainees were told to strip to make sure they had not concealed explosives.
Hagari said the men were questioned and those believed to have ties to Hamas taken away for further interrogation.
Former Israeli officials said the tactic was necessary.
“This is already helping us, and it will be crucial for the next stage of the war,” said Yaakov Amidror, a former national security adviser to the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. “That’s the stage where we clean areas from all the remnants of Hamas.”
During the weeklong ceasefire which ended on 1 December, Israel released 240 Palestinian minors and women from its jails in return for 80 Israeli hostages seized by Hamas during the attacks into southern Israel, which also killed 1,200, mostly civilians. Israel’s ensuing offensive in Gaza has killed more than 18,700 people, mostly women and children, according to Palestinian officials.
Most of the 14- to 17-year-olds freed had been detained for investigation and not convicted of a crime, reported the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club, based on data from the Israeli Prison Service. Over that same week, Israel arrested 260 other Palestinians, leading to a net increase in the number of prisoners, the group said.
The pace of Israeli arrests of Palestinians – already quickening over the past two years – accelerated after Hamas’ 7 October attacks. Many observers say Israel’s systematic use of administrative detention is a violation of international law. Israeli officials said the measures are necessary to protect its population from terrorist attacks.
Ibrahim Dalalsha, an analyst at the Horizon Centre in Ramallah, said the new wave of arrests did not appear to be based on specific intelligence.
“Usually the Israelis are going after people who are likely to commit or have committed offences after having a specific tip or information … This time they have gone after all people: different types of activists, their relatives, municipal workers. It’s pre-emptive kind of arrest and very broad,” Dalalsha said.
“The impact has to be considered in a broader context of other collective measures used in the West Bank in ways that have not been used for some time … This is punishment because we are Palestinians, not because we are a threat.”
The vast majority of Palestinians detained, experts say, are teenage boys and young men accused of throwing stones and firebombs or associating with militants. Some are released relatively swiftly. Many spend several months or longer in harsh conditions behind bars.
The conviction rate for security offences in the West Bank is more than 99%. Campaigners say detainees are often unable to read Hebrew-language statements or other documents, even confessions, and defence lawyers encourage young clients to plead guilty to avoid lengthy trials and detentions.
Lawyers say the crackdown is indiscriminate, with people branded as security threats for even mild social media posts.
Within the span of two months, six Palestinian men have died in Israeli custody, the highest number of cases in such a short period in decades, the UN said.
Nasir said Addameer had tried to establish what had happened in these cases. None of those who died had pre-existing medical conditions, she said, and a leaked autopsy revealed that one had sustained multiple injuries before dying.
Two weeks ago, the UN human rights office in the occupied Palestinian territory called for all deaths in custody and allegations of mistreatment to be investigated.
“The massive rise in number of Palestinians arrested and detained, the number of reports of ill-treatment and humiliation suffered by those in custody, and the reported failure to adhere to basic due process raise serious questions about Israel’s compliance with international humanitarian law and international human rights law,” it said.
Israel’s Prison Service has said that all prisoners in its custody “are detained according to the provisions of the law” and that prisoners deaths were under investigation.
Fast-tracked legislation pushed by Israel’s hardline national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, means that since 7 October, prisoners have been subject to a “state of emergency”, allowing them to be confined to their cells and so unable to receive family visits or buy food. They also face more frequent surprise searches, and electricity for devices has been cut off.
Some of those released during the ceasefire last month described beatings, deprivation and a significant deterioration in conditions in Israeli jails after the 7 October attacks.
Muhammad Ghazi Nazzal was arrested on 24 August and held in administrative detention for six months without any charges.
The 18-year-old described jailers entering cells in the middle of the night to beat prisoners, and scarce food. There was no independent confirmation, though pictures of injuries and medical documents seen by the Guardian support Nazzal’s claims.
“Approximately 10 people were served sliced bread, either one, two or three loaves for all the prisoners,” Nazzal said.
Nazzal said he was assaulted and hit on the hands, breaking his fingers. Though examined by a doctor who recommended treatment in a hospital, nothing was done until he was released and taken to Ramallah hospital.
“My joy was incomplete. I wanted to hug my mother and father, but because of the pain and fractures, I could not, and my mother cried a lot when she saw my health condition. I lost more than 10kg of weight,” he said.
The Israeli Prison Service said Palestinians are detained according to law and had the right to file complaints over conditions. Palestinians say their complaints are not taken seriously and rarely yield results.
The West Bank has been under Israeli military rule since Israel captured the territory in the six-day war in 1967. The Palestinians want it to form the main part of their future state.
The territory’s nearly 3 million Palestinian residents are subject to Israel’s military justice system, while the nearly 500,000 Jewish settlers living alongside them have Israeli citizenship and are subject to civilian courts.
“The crackdown in a way contradicts our intention not to open another front in the West Bank,” said Ami Ayalon, former director of Israel’s Shin Bet security service. “On one hand, we understand the more people killed and arrested, the more hatred rises. But on the other hand, we don’t want to pay the price in terrorist attacks.”
AP and AFP contributed to this report
