More than 3,500 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons without charge or trial
Palestinians are commemorating Prisoner’s Day, a day dedicated to the thousands of detainees held in Israeli jails. Many former detainees say they have been subjected to systematic torture, abuse and starvation by Israeli prison authorities.
Prisoners’ rights organisation Addameer says roughly two in five Palestinian men have been arrested and nearly 10,000 Palestinians are held in Israeli prisons. Out of those, approximately 400 are children and 27 are women.
Additionally, 3,500 are under administrative detention and held without charge or trial.
Since October 2023, Israel has banned humanitarian visits, making it harder to assess conditions and exact prisoner numbers.
PIJ accuses international community of ‘double standard’ towards Palestinian prisoners
Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) has called out what it says is the “clear and shameless double standard” of those demanding the release of Israeli captives in Gaza but staying silent as thousands of Palestinians languish in Israel’s jails, including women and children.
In a statement marking Palestinian Prisoners’ Day today, PIJ said the “international community is tarnished by its silence regarding the suffering of tens of thousands of Palestinian prisoners, which has continued for decades”.
Of the nearly 10,000 Palestinians that support groups say are held in Israeli prisons, 3,498 are held without charge or trial under what’s known as “administrative detention”.
PIJ said that 400 children and almost 30 women are among those held, while some 2,000 people from Gaza have been arrested by Israeli forces since October 7, 2023 and that 63 prisoners have died in Israeli jails from medical negligence and torture.
According to PIJ, the October 7 attacks on Israel were launched “primarily to impose a genuine prisoner exchange deal that would free prisoners from the occupation’s prisons and alleviate the suffering of our people”.
“Their liberation has become an unwavering goal in the battle for dignity and freedom,” it said.
Why has Israel imprisoned 10,000 Palestinians?
On April 17 every year, Palestinian Prisoners’ Day is commemorated to highlight the plight of those held in Israeli jails and their struggle for freedom against Israel’s continued occupation of their land.
The day marks the 1974 release of Mahmoud Bakr Hijazi, the first Palestinian freed in a prisoner swap with Israel. It was later designated to honour all Palestinian prisoners and highlight Israel’s ongoing detention of Palestinians and violations of their rights.
There are currently nearly 10,000 Palestinians held in jails in Israel and the occupied territory, according to prisoners’ rights group Addameer. To Palestinians, they are political prisoners who must be freed.
Read everything you need to know on why tens of thousands of Palestinians have been imprisoned by Israeli forces here.
