The humanitarian conditions of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons have become increasingly alarming, as human rights reports document the grave violations they have been subjected to since the outbreak of the genocidal war on the Gaza Strip in October 2023.
Psychological and physical torture, deprivation of sleep and food, and restriction for long periods in inhumane conditions are all scenes told by prisoners and their families to Reuters, at a time when Israeli detention centers are witnessing an unprecedented deterioration in detention conditions.
One of the most prominent violations highlighted is the “administrative detention” system in which Palestinians are detained without trial or formal charge.
These practices take place without following any procedures, as Palestinian prisoners are subjected to such arbitrary detention throughout their lives.
Moaz Abayat, a Palestinian bodybuilder who was subjected to several periods of detention, is one example of these violations.
After his release last July – that is, after 9 months of detention – Abayat found himself unable to walk without assistance, and things did not stop there, as he was arrested again last October during a raid on his home in the West Bank.
This arrest was just another link in a long series of suffering suffered by Palestinian prisoners who describe their suffering in prisons as painful, with symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder affecting many of them.
Systematic torture
Talking about torture in Israeli prisons is not new, but what recent reports reveal makes the issue more urgent, according to the testimonies of former Palestinian prisoners, such as Fadi Ayman Muhammad Radi, who was beaten and chained in the Sde Teman camp, and who indicated that the treatment they received was more Cruel than imaginable.
Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons described their experiences, which included psychological and physical torture, as they were forced to remain in stressful conditions for long periods, while being deprived of sleep and food. They also indicated that these violations are not limited to physical restraint only, but also include severe psychological torture.
Fadi Ayman Muhammad Radhi – who was arrested on March 4, 2023 – explained that he was forced to sit on the floor for long hours in stressful positions and without moving in a room that was called the “disco room,” as loud music was playing all the time.
Radhi also revealed that this was part of a series of violations that also included depriving him of sleep for 5 consecutive days, while preventing any kind of communication with others.
Radhi added that he was tied up in difficult and painful conditions, and was sometimes suspended in stressful physical positions, noting that talking about his suffering makes him relive those difficult moments in his mind.
Among the cases of concern is the Ketsiot Prison in the Negev Desert, where Palestinian prisoners are subjected to widespread violations.
Multiple human rights investigations reported the existence of a “network of torture camps” used by Israel against Palestinian prisoners, which prompted human rights organizations to call on the international community to pressure Israel to stop these violations.
Psychological effects
The devastating psychological effects left by torture in Israeli prisons are not just individual cases, but rather a collective phenomenon that affects Palestinian society as a whole. Constant anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, social withdrawal, and isolation from the family are all symptoms confirmed by the medical reports of the prisoners who were released.
The head of the Palestinian Authority for Prisoners and Ex-Prisoners Affairs, Qaddoura Fares, pointed out that many of the prisoners who will be released in any exchange deal will need long-term medical care to recover from the psychological and physical harm they have been exposed to.
In response to these reports, Israel denied on more than one occasion the existence of systematic practices of torture in prisons, and confirmed that it was investigating cases of individual mistreatment.
Officials in the Israeli army and the Prison Service claim that conditions inside prisons are subject to the law, but these officials are unable to provide convincing answers in cases of documented violations or evidence that they are not true.
Palestinian human rights organizations call on the international community to take action to put an end to these violations, as the issue of Palestinian prisoners is not just an issue of detention conditions, but rather a humanitarian issue that affects the lives of thousands of Palestinian families who live in constant fear for their captive children in Israeli occupation prisons.
