Sarra Grira. This exchange is intended to be instructive, aiming at shedding light on a certain dominant media and political propaganda when talking about incarcerated Palestinians. We have witnessed, since 7 October 2023, a differentiated terminology being used by political leaders and various media institutions. They speak of “prisoners” when referring to Palestinians and of “hostages” when referring to Israelis. This choice is not neutral. It conveys the idea that the imprisonment of Palestinians is carried out in accordance with the law and international standards, while stressing that the abductions of Israelis are unlawful. The same logic applies to detention conditions. “Palestinian minors” are often mentioned, but this word conceals a harsher reality: they are children. The choice of using an administrative term brings questions, when talking about Palestinian children in Israeli prisons.

The question of the visibility given to Palestinian detainees is fundamental. We are witnessing a process of invisibilisation that contributes to the dehumanisation of Palestinians deprived of their freedom and, more generally, of the Palestinian people. Israel has banned journalists from entering the Gaza Strip since 7 October 2023. This censorship must not stop them from working from abroad. Resources and information are available. Contacts there are available as well.

Salah Hamouri. There are currently an estimated 9,500¹ Palestinian political prisoners. Palestinians in prison do not all have the same status. The Palestinian people are fragmented in five distinct groups: Palestinians of 1948 living in Israel²; Palestinians of Gaza; of the West Bank; of Jerusalem; and refugees abroad. This division is part of the colonial logic and continues within prisons. The aim is again to fragment the Palestinian political prisoners’ movement.

This division takes various forms in prisons. It begins with the way Palestinians are tried: some in front of civilian courts, other in front of military courts. It depends on their origin, status and has also changed over time. Palestinians of Jerusalem are, in most cases, tried before Israeli civil courts. This is also the case for Palestinians living in Israel. Palestinians of the West Bank, on the other hand, are subject to Israeli military law. As for the Palestinians in Gaza, their legal status has changed several times. Before the Oslo Agreement, they were tried before military courts. When Israeli settlers withdrew from Gaza in 2005, the legislation was modified again and arrested Palestinians from Gaza were then reclassified as “unlawful combatants” and transferred to civilian courts.

The frequent changes, the fragmentation of status, the different legal regimes all serve one purpose: breaking the resistance of incarcerated Palestinians. The aim is to harm their minds, destroy their psychological stability, isolate them and make them a burden on their families and their society.

Giulia. The Unlawful combatant law was introduced in early 2000. It originally targeted the Lebanese combatants. The Israeli army withdrew from Gaza in 2005. For Israeli authorities, Gaza is therefore no longer an occupied territory, and Palestinians of Gaza cannot be detained under international humanitarian law¹. Israel has applied the Unlawful combatant law to Palestinian living in Gaza to repress them since the withdrawal, and even more since 7 October 2023. Thousands of Palestinians have been arrested based on this law.

This law has been amended several times, including four since 7 October. One of the amendments allowed Israeli authorities to prevent arrested Palestinians from meeting with their lawyer for 180 days. During that period, families did not know where their relative was detained. The families gave a mandate to NGOs or lawyers to try to locate their loved one, often in vain. Officially, a legal framework exists, but it actually allows enforced disappearances. Incarcerated Palestinians do not have access to their lawyer; they do not know the charges held against them. They are sometimes forced to sign documents that they do not understand. Hearings are held by videoconference. The Unlawful combatants law currently allows Israeli authorities to deny access to a lawyer for 45 days. After this period of incommunicado detention, detained Palestinians are supposed to be able to see a lawyer. But this is not always the case.

Despite its name, the law does not apply to armed combatants, who are tried under Israeli criminal law. It actually targets civilians —doctors, teachers, journalists— and children. The successive amendments were voted by a majority of Israeli MPs: out of 112 MPs, 97 supported them. Institutions are key players in this system².

A phenomenon is experiencing substantial growth since 7 October 2023: large-scale enforced disappearances. Tens of thousands of Palestinians have disappeared. Israeli authorities sometimes refuse to reveal their identities. At the very least, 5,000 or 6,000 detained Palestinians have gone missing. For some, it is still unsure whether they are dead or being held in Israel. It was not until 2024 that the Israeli army set up a mechanism allowing lawyers or organisations to send an e-mail with the name, date of birth and identity of the alleged incarcerated people. With this system, Al-Mezan managed to find more than 150 people, but thousands more remain missing.

Salah Hamouri. Both the criminal and civil judiciary systems are deeply complicit of what goes on behind prison walls. There is no real distinction between these two systems. The idea is often put forward that Israel’s harsh military system is counterbalanced by a fair, democratic civil system. This is not true. The civil justice system might even be more violent. Every order to demolish a Palestinian home is issued with the approval of the Israeli Supreme Court. Every administrative detention order is taken with the endorsement of that jurisdiction. For Palestinians, these two branches are two faces of a single oppression system.

Giulia. Arrests and rights violations against incarcerated Palestinians have intensified, especially in Gaza, since October 2023. Before that, inhabitants of Gaza were arrested less frequently because the Israeli army was not physically present in the territory. Arrests were rare and happened mainly when Palestinians attempted to cross checkpoints, such as Erez or Beit Hanoun. Since the Israeli army’s invasion of Gaza, we, as a human rights organisation, have witnessed unprecedented events, such as mass abduction of thousands of Palestinians.

What is happening to detained Palestinians is not an isolated phenomenon, but an integral part of the ongoing genocide. When the Israeli ministry of Defence qualifies Palestinians as “human animals”, he feeds into a logic of dehumanisation that is repeated and applied at every level: from the government to the army, through to the prison administration.

Incarcerated Palestinians, particularly from Gaza, are essentially treated like animals. Arrests take place during raids on hospitals and medical centres, or at checkpoints set up by the army.

For example, when the army orders Palestinians to leave northern Gaza for the south, many are massively intercepted and arrested. The violations begin at the stage of arrest. People, sometimes 15 or 16-year-olds, are separated by gender, then stripped naked and searched. If they are lucky, they are stripped by soldiers of the same gender. We regularly receive accounts of humiliating searches carried out by soldiers of the opposite gender. Some of the people arrested are left naked and transported without clothes. They are then grouped together at the border between Gaza and Israel, forced to sit for hours on gravel, beaten or even tortured. An initial interrogation takes place at this stage. The detained people are then transferred to military camps or to the Israeli prison service.

Most Gazans are first transported to a military camp run by the army and the intelligence services, not by the prison service. Sde Teiman, the most infamous camp, is located in the middle of the desert, and consists mainly of shipping containers.

Testimonials describe cages in which dozens of Palestinians are locked up in inhuman conditions. The people are hungry, some have lost up to 30 kilos in a few months of detention. They are given very little water, bread and a small quantity of cream or peanut butter. They sleep on very thin mattresses, without clothes suitable for the cold.

In interrogation rooms, the people are physically and psychologically tortured. There are reports of rape, threats of rape and sexual assault by soldiers. If they refuse to talk, authorities threaten to murder their relatives in Gaza. Detention in such conditions can last for months before charges are brought. If Israeli services find no usable information, the people may be released in Gaza. If not, they are transferred to prisons, such as Ketziot, in the Negev region. Even in prison with a recognised legal status, conditions are alarming. Palestinians are held in separate sections from other prisoners. We have received several accounts of torture, including the use of music or military dogs during interrogations. Food deprivation policies have also been reported. In some facilities, Israeli authorities have prevented detained Palestinians from accessing showers, which has led to the spread of sometimes fatal diseases. They use these epidemics as a pretext to ban visits.

Salah Hamouri. Incarcerated Palestinians are currently detained in the worst conditions witnessed since 1948. What they are living through is the direct result of the inaction of the international community, including the United States, the European Union and other powers. Palestinians do not believe in international law and conventions anymore, because these laws do not apply to everyone. Only power dynamics matter and seem to have the potential to stop what is happening in Palestine.

Ayed Abu Eqtaish. The situation of detained Palestinian children has deteriorated since 7 October 2023. Children could, before that date, receive enough food in terms of quantity. Families were allowed to deposit money, which enabled them to buy additional goods. The authorities only provided a limited living space and a mattress, and families often had to pay for the rest. Since 7 October, families are no longer allowed to transfer money, which brings a sharp drop in the quantity and quality of the food available. The food ration has become extremely limited.

Two weeks ago, a detained child died in such conditions. He had told the hospital that the authorities were not giving them enough food. The medical report identified three main causes of his death: starvation, trauma and dehydration.

The 17-year-old boy was arrested in September 2024 and died on 22 March 2025. His health deteriorated over six months due to malnutrition and lack of water. He collapsed in the prison yard before being transferred to hospital, where he died shortly after arriving. He had told other prisoners that his health was declining. His case reflects the dramatic situation of all Palestinians detained in Israeli prisons, including children. Israeli authorities justify this intensification by saying they want to align Palestinians’ detention condition with those of Israelis captured in Gaza.

Most children arrested in October 2023 are still detained in Israeli prisons. Sentences usually are issued after a long period of time. Most cases are judged by military courts with a plea bargain. Lawyers can agree with the military prosecutors to allow children to get sentence reductions, but that is rarely put in practice. As for liberations, they are very rare.

The situation in the West Bank is different from that in Gaza. In Gaza, most children are held in prisons under the control of the Israeli army. Only a minority are placed under the supervision of the Israeli prison service.

In the West Bank, the situation is the opposite. Children from Gaza are registered as unlawful combattants, a designation used specifically for them, never for other children from the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.

We are concerned about the reluctance of released children to talk. They are afraid to tell what they have lived through. Israeli authorities threaten them not to speak to the media or human rights organisations. Before 7 October 2023, Israel was careful about its international image. Foreign observers could still access military courts and attend hearings. But since then, everything has been done in the shadows. International committees are no longer authorised to visit prisons or monitor conditions of detention. The treatment inflicted on incarcerated people, including children, now takes place is complete opacity, with no external monitoring.