9,500 Palestinians remain in Israeli custody: What to know
- Prisoners include at least 80 women, 200 children
- Detainees are held in Israeli military prisons, detention centers
- Israelis deny allegations of abuse, mistreatment
Protesters carry posters showing Kayed Fasfous, a Palestinian prisoner who has been on hunger strike for 120 days to protest being detained without charge by Israel, in the village of ad-Dhahiriya, near the West Bank town of Hebron, Thursday, Nov. 11, 2021. Israel faced growing calls on Thursday to release five Palestinians who have been on hunger strike for weeks to protest a controversial policy of holding them indefinitely without charge. Arabic on poster reads “Freedom for prisoners who are on hunger strike”. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)
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(NewsNation) — As negotiations continue toward a possible cease-fire in the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas, around 9,500 Palestinians remain detained in Israeli custody, many of whom are being held without any formal criminal charges, international human rights groups maintain.
The Palestinians being held under Israeli military and national security laws represent the largest number to be held captive in nearly 15 years, officials said. And now, more than eight months into the war, Palestinian hostages are being kept in conditions described as inhumane while also being tortured by their captors, according to multiple published reports and humanitarian organizations.
Amnesty International reported in May that at least 40 Palestinian prisoners have died while in Israeli custody over the past six months. The abuse of detainees, which includes what prisoners have characterized as torture and the denial of adequate medical care, came as Palestinian Prisoners’ Day was recognized in mid-April. The annual march calls for the human rights of prisoners to be upheld while they remain in Israeli custody.
But in most cases, various humanitarian groups report, prisoners, some of whom have been in custody for decades, are not being treated humanely.
“People are dying. Torture which you cannot imagine unless you taste it (experience it). Suffering which you cannot imagine unless you experience it,” one former detainee, Ataa Shbat, told Reuters.
Where are Palestinians being held?
Palestinian detainees are being held in 19 prisons that are run by Israeli civilians as well as in three detention centers that are run by Israeli military members, The New York Times reported.
Where prisoners are sent is based largely on where they came from, the report. Palestinians from the West Bank are held in the prison system, which is overseen by a person nominated by Itamar Ben-Gvir, the national security minister.
Hundreds of prisoners from Gaza, meanwhile, are being held in at least three different detention facilities and have remained there since being captured during the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks.
Why are Palestinians being detained?
The majority of those being held, including at least 80 women and 200 children, remain in administrative detention, meaning they have not been charged criminally, The Guardian reported this spring.
HaMoked, an Israeli human rights organization, has reported that at least 3,500 of those Palestinians being held have not been charged criminally. This number has increased significantly since Oct. 7, before which time only 1,300 Palestinians were being held in administrative detention, The New York Times reported.
Administrative detention can be renewed indefinitely based on secret information that the prisoner is not permitted to see, the Los Angeles Times reported. Many of those being held were arrested for what the Israeli military calls alleged security offenses.
Others are being held for allegedly having ties to Hamas, although no evidence proves they belong to the group.
Palestinians can be arrested for gathering without a permit with as few as 10 people on any issue that could be construed as being political, the LA Times report indicated.
Many of the detainees remain held based on presumptions that they might commit a crime in the future. Palestinians who are held are under the rule of the Israeli military law and are, therefore, prosecuted in military courts.
Under military law, Palestinians may be held for up to eight days without seeing an attorney before they must see a judge. Even in that case, however, they appear before a military judge. By contrast, under Israeli law, a person must appear before a judge within 24 hours of being arrested.
Allegations of Palestinians being abused
Conditions in which Palestinian prisoners are being held have deteriorated greatly since the Oct. 7 attacks, the BBC has reported.
Thirteen prisoners being held in Israeli jails have died over that time, with their deaths being linked to beatings they suffered or because they were denied medications, the report said. In many cases, male prisoners were forced to strip down to their underwear and were handcuffed, sometimes blindfolded, and beaten.
Spokespersons for the Israeli prison system have told media outlets, including the New York Times, that all prisoners being held were in custody lawfully and that all of their human rights have been upheld. Yet according to multiple media reports, Palestinian detainees said that they were denied medical care while being held prisoner.
“I went into jail with two legs, and I returned with one leg,” Sufian Abu Salah, who said he had been beaten by prison guards, told Reuters. “I had inflammations in my leg, and they (the Israelis) refused to take me to hospital. A week later, the inflammations spread and became gangrene.”
Others claimed the abuse took place for no reason.
“After 7 October, it was total torture,” one detainee provided anonymity by the BBC told the British news agency. “They beat us for no reason; they searched us for no reason. Even if you look at someone the wrong way.”
Again, prison officials have denied any wrongdoing on the part of Israeli military members.
“We are not familiar with the claims described,” a statement to the BBC read, “and as far as we know they are not true.”