15 April 2026 – Union for Justice Foundation
The Union for Justice Foundation stated that the conditions of Palestinian prisoners in occupation prisons are deteriorating, as the Israeli government continues to prevent delegates of the International Committee of the Red Cross from visiting these prisons since 7 October 2023.
The foundation quoted a recently released prisoner from Megiddo Prison as saying: “The harsh conditions endured by prisoners for nearly two and a half years remain unchanged; in fact, they are worsening in some prisons, despite the release of all Israeli prisoners in the Gaza Strip—the pretext that the occupation had used to justify its crimes.”
Israeli Minister of Defense, Israel Katz, had issued a decision on 29 October last year to extend the ban on Red Cross representatives visiting detainees in occupation prisons, under the claim of “endangering state security.”
He added: “The Israeli Prison Service continues to implement a policy of deliberate starvation against prisoners. The food provided is poor in both quantity and quality, turning the bodies of many prisoners into skeletal forms and exposing them to diseases due to weakened immune systems.”
The released prisoner (who preferred to remain anonymous) indicated that what most worries and frightens prisoners is being subjected to severe beatings—whether by prison guards inside the sections, suppression units, or “Nachshon” units responsible for transferring prisoners between prisons.
He confirmed that such brutal beatings—resulting in broken ribs, fractured limbs, and deep wounds—have become a bloody routine and part of prisoners’ daily suffering, adding: “Beatings occur for the most trivial reasons, and sometimes without any reason at all, especially in places where there are no surveillance cameras.”
Prayer is a punishable offense
The released prisoner cited an incident in which two prisoners were seen secretly performing prayer in a corner of the prison yard. They were severely beaten by dozens of guards, causing them to lose consciousness and leaving their faces unrecognizable.
He continued: “The prison director was not satisfied with that; he moved from one room to another, insulting prisoners with the vilest language and threatening them with a similar fate if they attempted to pray in the prison yard.”
According to the testimony, prisoners suffer from severe overcrowding: a prison cell designed to accommodate six prisoners holds ten, with four sleeping on the floor and the rest on iron bunks. This accelerates the spread of infections when one of them falls ill.
The spread of diseases—especially skin diseases such as scabies—is exacerbated by the lack of clothing and insufficient personal hygiene supplies, such as shampoo, soap, toothpaste, and razors. He added: “In some cases, prisoners used floor-cleaning materials instead of shampoo.”
The Israeli Prison Service provides each new prisoner with a light gray uniform and, at best, one or two changes of clothing, which must last throughout both summer and winter. This forces prisoners to use the clothes of those who are released.
Since 7 October 2023, occupation authorities have prevented prisoners’ families from visiting them—visits during which families were previously allowed to bring clothing and blankets.
Sick prisoners… the most severely affected
Regarding the conditions of sick and wounded prisoners, the released prisoner stated: “They are the most vulnerable group in prisons, especially those with chronic illnesses and those injured by occupation forces during arrest. Most of them rely solely on painkillers.”
He continued: “What is strange is that some sick prisoners may manage to reach the prison clinic after a long wait and receive medication in the morning, only for it to be confiscated later the same day during a raid on prisoners’ rooms by guards.”
Among the punitive measures imposed on prisoners is the confiscation of mattresses and blankets for long hours—from after dawn prayer until evening—forcing them to sleep on iron bunks, causing severe pain in bones and joints, especially in cold weather.
According to the testimony, prisoners also suffer from a lack of access to news and remain unaware of events outside prison, except for limited and often fragmented information brought by newly arrived prisoners.
He added: “We learned about the war on Iran through the sound of violent explosions in the sky, sirens, and guards retreating into fortified rooms—we were completely cut off and unaware of what was happening”
On the eve of 7 October 2023, the Israeli Prison Service swiftly moved to confiscate radios and televisions from prisoners’ rooms. Since then, prisoners have been cut off from news, except for the limited information that reaches them through lawyers.
The occupation has also closed prison canteens, further exacerbating prisoners’ suffering.
The released prisoner pointed out that any prison director or guard who shows sympathy or attempts to assist prisoners—by improving food quality, providing medication, or increasing cleaning supplies—is quickly punished by being transferred to another prison or demoted in rank.
Prisoners: latest figures
According to prisoners’ organizations, as of early April, approximately 9,600 prisoners are held in occupation prisons, including 86 women and around 350 children. The number of administrative detainees has risen to more than 3,530, including women and children.
Occupation authorities use administrative detention as a tool of collective punishment. By the end of last year, approximately 180 children were held under administrative detention alone—an alarming indicator of escalating violations.
The prison administration classifies around 1,251 detainees as “unlawful combatants,” a figure that does not include all detainees held in Israeli military camps. This category faces extremely harsh conditions amid the absence of international oversight and the continued policy of enforced disappearance affecting dozens from the Gaza Strip since the beginning of the latest aggression.
Meanwhile, the number of martyrs of the Palestinian prisoners’ movement has reached 326 since 1967, including 89 prisoners who have been martyred since the outbreak of the war on the Gaza Strip in October 2023. The occupation authorities continue to withhold the bodies of 97 prisoners who were martyred in its prisons, in a practice that violates all international laws and norms, which require that the bodies be returned to their families for dignified burial.
End
