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israel prison service
3 in 4 Gaza Detainees Held Without Trial by Israel Are Civilians, Military Database Says
Jessica Montell, director of the Israeli human rights group HaMoked, said Israel's "unlawful combatants" law "has been used to facilitate the forced disappearance of hundreds and even thousands of people."
Sep 04, 2025
The vast majority of the Palestinians being held in Israel's brutal detention centers are civilians, according to data from a classified Israeli military database.
An investigation published Thursday by The Guardian, the Israeli-Palestinian publication +972 Magazine, and the Hebrew-language outlet Local Call reveals that of the more than 6,000 so-called "unlawful combatants" detained by Israel during the first 19 months of its military campaign in Gaza, just 1,450 of them were considered by the army to be Hamas or Palestinian Islamic Jihad militants.
In its public statements, the Israeli government and media often describe every Palestinian detained or killed in Gaza as a "terrorist." But according to The Guardian:
Those jailed for long periods without charge or trial include medical workers, teachers, civil servants, media workers, writers, sick and disabled people, and children.
Among the most egregious cases are those of an 82-year-old woman with Alzheimer's jailed for six weeks and of a single mother separated from her young children. When the mother was released after 53 days she found the children begging on the streets.
Israel's Unlawful Combatants Law enacted in 2002, allows the military to hold people in detention if they have "reasonable grounds" to believe they participated in "hostile activities against the state of Israel" or are a member of a group that has.
The law allows them to be held for 75 days without access to a lawyer and another 45 days without being brought before a court. After October 7, 2023, those periods of internment were extended to 180 and 75 days, respectively.
Their detention periods are often extended automatically based on "secret evidence" that is not shared with detainees or their lawyers. According to the joint report, "There have been no known trials of anyone captured in Gaza since October 7."
This detention method is described as a way to subvert due process without declaring the detained to be prisoners of war, which entitles them to protection from violence under international law.
"If Israel were to put all [the detainees] on trial, they'd have to draft indictments on specific charges and present evidence of those allegations," Jessica Montell, director of the Israeli human rights group HaMoked, told +972. "Due process can be cumbersome. That's why they created the Unlawful Combatants Law, to bypass all of that."
Montell said that the law "has been used to facilitate the forced disappearance of hundreds and even thousands of people."
According to the Israeli human rights group B'Tselem, shortly after the war kicked off, Israel began the "rushed transformation of more than a dozen Israeli prison facilities, military and civilian, into a network of camps dedicated to the abuse of inmates as a matter of policy."
Testimonies from dozens of Palestinians from Gaza and the West Bank who were arbitrarily detained revealed in August 2024 that the prisoners "were subjected to harsh arbitrary violence on a frequent basis, sexual assault, humiliation and degradation, deliberate starvation, forced lack of hygiene, sleep deprivation, restriction and punishment of religious worship, confiscation of all group and personal belongings, and denial of adequate medical care."
Those who have been released from detention often come back in horrendous health, as the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor found out when it documented the conditions of the roughly 2,000 detainees released during January's brief ceasefire period between Israel and Hamas. A report released by the group in February stated that:
The majority appeared to be in a serious state of decline, with each of them losing several kilograms of weight due to what appears to be intentional starvation.
Following their release, many of the inmates and detainees required immediate hospital transfers for critical medical examinations. One in particular seemed incapable of recognizing his future after being denied treatment while in custody.
These circumstances demonstrate how Israel has transformed its jails into institutionalized torture facilities for Palestinian detainees and prisoners, including those who were convicted and imprisoned prior to October 7, 2023.
Until the final moments before their release, most of the detainees endured psychological torture in addition to mistreatment and beatings.
According to the Palestinian Prisoners' Media Office, 77 Palestinians have died while in Israeli detention since the start of the war.
HaMoked says Israel is currently detaining more than 11,000 Palestinians as "security" inmates, including 2,662 people designated as "unlawful combatants"—the most since the designation was created. They are also holding 3,577 people in administrative detention, which allows people to be held without charge on the grounds that they may have broken the law in the future.
At least 360 children ages 12-17 are currently being held in Israeli detention, according to the latest figures from the Israel Prison Service released on June 30.
"These children are languishing in overcrowded Israeli prisons, fed rotten food, and beaten on a daily basis by Israeli guards, all while they are completely isolated from the outside world, including from their families and lawyers," said Ayed Abu Eqtaish, accountability program director at the Defense for Children International-Palestine.
A record number of these children, 147 of them, are being held under administrative detention without charge or trial.
The investigation by The Guardian, +972, and Local Call comes two weeks after the three outlets published a report on classified Israel Defense Forces data that showed 5 in 6 Palestinians killed in the first 19 months of the war were civilians, despite persistent claims by Israel and its Western allies that the military is targeting Hamas.
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Israeli Officials Hiding Data About Forced Starvation of Gaza Prisoners: Report
Former detainees say the Israel Prison Service "has significantly reduced their food rations, to the point of starvation, causing them to shed dozens of kilograms."
Jun 27, 2024
Israeli prison officials are concealing information about reductions in food rations for Palestinians held in the Gaza Strip, where detainees—who have also reported horrific abuse including alleged rape and deadly torture—have been deliberately driven "to the point of starvation," according to a report published Thursday.
Security sources
told the Israeli newspaper Haaretz that the Israel Prison Service (IPS) is intentionally cutting Palestinian prisoners' caloric intake, a move confirmed by Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who called the policy a "deterrent."
"The Palestinian detainees will receive the minimum rights and the minimum food, and I will ensure that this policy is implemented," Ben-Gvir, who leads the far-right Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Power) party,
said Thursday in response to a query from Israel's Supreme Court.
"There is no starvation, but my policy does call for reducing conditions, including food and calories," Ben-Gvir added.
"The IPS has been deploying a policy of starvation towards Palestinian prisoners and detainees."
However, dozens of Palestinians held by Israel, including so-called security prisoners and detainees unaffiliated with Hamas, have testified that the IPS "has significantly reduced their food rations, to the point of starvation, causing them to shed dozens of kilograms."
One unidentified security source told Haaretz: "Since the start of the war, there's been a deliberate policy of indiscriminate reduction of food. To put it mildly, this policy has raised factual questions about the figures provided by the prison service, to such an extent that it is impossible to get the full picture and to determine whether what is going on is legal at all."
"This is not just a legal question, it can cause security issues with serious implications," the source added.
According to the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, which, along with the Israeli human rights group Gisha, filed a petition in the High Court of Justice earlier this year:
Since October 7, 2023, the IPS has been deploying a policy of starvation towards Palestinian prisoners and detainees. Recently released prisoners testified that they suffered from constant and extreme hunger and very poor quality of food. Among the testimonies presented in the petition were those of a diabetic prisoner who ate toothpaste to raise blood sugar, and of prisoners who lost tens of kilograms in weight in recent months.
The petition argued that the food reduction policy amounts to starvation and torture, and contravenes Israeli and international law. It violates the constitutional right of security prisoners to dignity and health, constitutes a policy of collective punishment, and violates the IPS' obligation to provide detainees in its custody with appropriate prison conditions.
At a hearing on Wednesday, the High Court of Justice slammed the reduction of Palestinian prisoners' food rations as "unacceptable."
Appalling conditions have been widely reported in Israeli military lockups since the start of Israel's bombardment and invasion of Gaza in retaliation for the Hamas-led attacks that left more than 1,100 Israelis and others dead—at least some of whom were killed by so-called "friendly fire"—and over 240 others kidnapped on October 7.
According to Israeli whistleblowers who worked at the notorious Sde Teiman prison camp in the Negev Desert, Palestinian detainees there are tortured not to "gather intelligence," but "out of revenge" for October 7.
Often referred to as "Israel's Abu Ghraib"—the infamous U.S. military prison in Iraq where dozens of detainees died, some of them tortured to death—Sde Teiman has been described by former detainees as hell on Earth. Palestinians held there and at other detention sites described being electrocuted, mauled and even raped by dogs, and starved, among other abuses.
One Sde Teiman physician said that all patients at the camp's field hospital are handcuffed by all four limbs, 24 hours a day, regardless of how dangerous they are deemed. The doctor said that more than half of his patients at the camp have suffered cuffing injuries, including some that have required "repeated surgical interventions."
"Two prisoners had their legs amputated due to handcuff injuries, which unfortunately is a routine event," he told Haaretz.
Last month, Haaretz revealed that 27 detainees have died in custody at the Sde Teiman and Anatot camps or during interrogation by Israeli forces since October 7. While some were Hamas or other militants captured or wounded while fighting IDF troops, others were civilians, including some with preexisting health conditions like the diabetic laborer who was not suspected of any offense when he was arrested and sent to his death at Anatot.
One former Sde Teiman detainee also claimed that he personally witnessed Israeli troops execute five prisoners in separate incidents.
Photos and videos of Israeli troops abusing Palestinians—both alive and dead—have been published by perpetrators on social media. According to testimonies collected by the Geneva-based Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor, Israeli officers brought Israeli civilians into detention centers and allowed them to witness Palestinian prisoners being tortured.
Former detainees said groups of 10-20 Israeli civilians were allowed to record torture sessions in which the men, stripped nearly naked, were beaten with metal batons, electrocuted, and had hot water poured over their heads. The ex-prisoners said some of the Israelis laughed while filming their torture.
The new Haaretz report comes as the International Court of Justice is weighing whether Israel is committing genocide, in part by blocking food aid from reaching starving Gazans, dozens of whom have died of malnutrition.
International Criminal Court Prosecutor Karim Khan is also seeking to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his defense minister, Yoav Gallant, for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity including forced starvation of Gazans and extermination. Khan is also pursuing warrants to arrest three Hamas leaders.
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'Heartbreaking News': Palestinian Activist Dies in Israeli Prison After 87-Day Hunger Strike
"Beyond the medical, professional, and ethical failures, Khader Adnan's story demonstrates Israel's fear of addressing the main issue against which Adnan protested for so many years—the injustices of the occupation," said one human rights group.
May 02, 2023
Resistance fighters in Gaza launched a volley of rockets at Israel amid protests and a call for a general strike after Palestinian activist Khader Adnan, who had been on a nearly three-month hunger strike, died in an Israeli prison early Tuesday.
Adnan, a 45-year-old father of nine and member of the resistance group Palestinian Islamic Jihad, died in Nitzan Prison in Ramle on the 87th day of a hunger strike to protest the Israeli practice of administrative detention—indefinite imprisonment without charge or trial.
"My flesh has melted, my bones have gnawed, and my strength has weakened from my imprisonment," Adnan said in his will, written a month ago. "My dear Palestinian people… do not despair. Regardless of what the occupiers do, and no matter how far they go in their injustice and aggression, our victory is close."
\u201cHeartbreaking news: Khader Adnan has died in Israeli prison after 87 days of being on hunger strike. \n\nThis was the 10th time Israel arrested him, placing him under administrative detention. They never filed any charges against him. Never gave him a trial. \n\nThey killed him.\u201d— Fadi Quran (@Fadi Quran) 1683000901
Palestinian media report hundreds of people gathered outside Adnan's home in the Israeli-occupied West Bank town of Arraba. Randa Musa, Adnan's widow, urged Palestinians to remain peaceful.
"We do not want a single drop of bloodshed," she said. "We do not want rockets to be fired, or a following strike on Gaza."
\u201cRanda Musa, wife of Palestinian prisoner Khader Adnan, who had been on hunger strike for 86 days, spoke out after he died in an Israeli prison on Tuesday.\n\nAdnan had been arrested by Israel multiple times and given "administrative detention" without trial or charges by Israel\u201d— Middle East Eye (@Middle East Eye) 1683046800
The Associated Press reports Palestinian militants launched 22 rockets from Gaza into southern Israel after Adnan's death, wounding three people—all foreigners—at a construction site in Sderot.
"This is an initial response to this heinous crime that will trigger reactions from our people," a coalition of Gaza-based Palestinian militant groups led by Hamas said in a statement.
Israeli Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir, who oversees Palestinian prisoners, responded to Adnan's death by ordering the Israel Prison Service (IPS) to show "zero-tolerance toward hunger strikes."
\u201cMake no mistake: Israel killed Khader Adnan. He valiantly struggled against injustice\u2014multiple months-long hunger strikes against administrative detention\u2014until his last breath. He never enjoyed a minute of freedom but dies w his head raised high. His resilience wont be forgotten\u201d— Omar Shakir (@Omar Shakir) 1683001727
According to Middle East Eye, Adnan spent a total of 316 days on hunger strikes in various Israeli prisons over the past two decades:
Growing up under Israeli military rule, Adnan became involved in anti-occupation work from a young age.
He was first arrested by Israeli forces while he was still a student at Birzeit University in Ramallah, where he graduated with a degree in economic mathematics in 2001.
His first detention lasted four months without charge or trial. He was then rearrested and held for another year.
Over the next two decades, Adnan was arrested 10 more times, spending a total of eight years behind bars.
The Palestinian Prisoners Society (PPS), an umbrella advocacy group, called Adnan a "true fighter" who waged "long battles with his empty stomach to gain his freedom."
"Today we lost a true leader," PPS said in a statement, adding that Adnan "carried the voice of Palestinian prisoners to the world."
\u201cFollowing an 87 day hunger strike, Palestinian prisoner Khader Adnan died aged 45.\n\nWe hold Israel\u2019s brutal regime of settler-colonialism & apartheid solely responsible for this intentional execution of a leading Palestinian political prisoner. \n\n#FreeThemAll\n#BoycottHP\n#StopG4S\u201d— BDS movement (@BDS movement) 1683032795
Physicians for Human Rights Israel (PHRI) tweeted: "When he was arrested for the last time, Adnan again protested his detention. The hunger strike was Adnan's last resort to nonviolently protest the oppression he and his people face every day. These strikes were a protest not only against his own administrative detentions but also against its decadeslong use as a tool of political oppression against Palestinians."
PHRI continued:
For weeks, following a severe deterioration in his condition, we tried to convince the Health Ministry, Kaplan Hospital, and the Israel Prison Service to keep Adnan hospitalized. The IPS clinic was not equipped to monitor Adnan and could not provide emergency intervention in case of sudden deterioration. After visiting Adnan a few days before his death, PHRI chairperson Dr. Lina Qasem-Hassan published a medical report warning that he faces imminent death and must be urgently transferred to a hospital for observation. Unfortunately, our efforts to raise these concerns judicially and individually fell on deaf ears. Even the request to allow Adnan's family to visit him in prison—when it was clear this may be their final meeting—was denied by the IPS.
"Beyond the medical, professional, and ethical failures, Khader Adnan's story demonstrates Israel's fear of addressing the main issue against which Adnan protested for so many years—the injustices of the occupation," the group added.
PPS said Adnan is the 237th Palestinian since 1967 to die while imprisoned by Israel. According to Middle East Eye, at least seven other Palestinians previously died while on hunger strike in Israeli prisons; the last such death occurred in 1992.
\u201c\ud83d\udea8 The Israeli Prison Services' sustained practice of medical neglect, including the denial of hospital care to Khader despite a medical emergency and withholding his visitation rights, is directly responsible for Khader\u2019s death\n#EndIsraeliApartheid \nhttps://t.co/xur0m5kKdX\u201d— Addameer \u2013\u0627\u0644\u0636\u0645\u064a\u0631 (@Addameer \u2013\u0627\u0644\u0636\u0645\u064a\u0631) 1683032825
"By incarcerating him in the first place and purposely subjecting him to medical neglect the Israeli regime is responsible for Khader Adnan's death. But it is important to understand hunger strikes as acts of resistance in a context where prisoners are stripped of all agency," Palestinian academic Yara Hawari tweeted.
"Whilst it may seem that by inflicting damage on the body is oppositional to liberation, hunger strikes allow prisoners to seize back the power of life and death from the incarceration regime," she added. "This is why they have long been used as a tool of resistance around the world."
According to the Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association, a Palestinian advocacy group, Israel currently imprisons nearly 5,000 Palestinians, including more than 1,000 administrative detainees and 160 children.
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