Palestinian detainees are facing harshest conditions since 1967, says prisoners' group
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Nearly 23,000 Palestinians from the occupied West Bank have been jailed by Israeli authorities since October 2023, according to a report released Friday by the Palestinian Prisoners’ Society (PPS).
The report, issued on the 78th anniversary of the Palestinian Nakba, said the figure includes women, children, injured individuals, and former prisoners. It does not include thousands of detainees from Gaza, where the group accused Israel of enforced disappearances by withholding information about the whereabouts and conditions of prisoners.
The PPS described the current period as the “bloodiest and harshest” for Palestinian detainees since 1967. It alleged that prisons and military camps have become places of starvation, torture, humiliation, and systematic medical neglect aimed at physically and psychologically harming inmates.
According to the report, around 9,400 Palestinians are currently being held in Israeli prisons. The group said detention has long been used as a tool affecting the social and national fabric of Palestinian society.
The report stated that 89 Palestinian detainees whose identities have been confirmed have died in Israeli custody since the start of the Israel-Gaza conflict. It alleged that some deaths were linked to torture, malnutrition, and denial of medical treatment.
The PPS also said that 326 Palestinian prisoners have died in Israeli custody since 1967. It claimed Israel continues to withhold information regarding dozens of detainees from Gaza.
The group further argued that mass imprisonment has historically been used as a method of control, dating back to the British Mandate period and later under Israeli authority, linking current detention policies to the broader history of the Nakba.