Palestinian prisoners’ advocacy groups have reported that the number of Palestinians languishing in Israeli prisons has surpassed 9,250 as of November, amid intensifying crackdowns, mass arrests, and brutal treatment of detainees.

The vast majority are held under administrative detention — an Israeli practice widely condemned as illegal under international law for allowing imprisonment without charge, trial, or access to evidence.

According to the report, the figure excludes those held in Israeli military camps, where hundreds more are believed to be detained incommunicado, particularly from the Gaza Strip since the beginning of the latest Israeli aggression.

Of those currently imprisoned, 1,242 are serving sentences, while 49 Palestinian women — including one from Gaza — remain behind bars. Among them are mothers, journalists, students, and political activists who have been subjected to humiliation, psychological torture, and medical neglect.

The organizations highlighted the plight of more than 350 Palestinian children, most of whom are locked up in Ofer and Megiddo prisons. Many were seized during violent night raids and have been subjected to interrogation without legal representation or the presence of their families. Reports from human rights defenders reveal that these minors are often beaten, blindfolded, and coerced into signing confessions written in Hebrew — a language many of them do not understand.

The report further stated that the number of administrative detainees has risen sharply to 3,368, with Israel issuing hundreds of new orders every month. Detainees held under this system can be imprisoned indefinitely based on “secret evidence” that neither they nor their lawyers are allowed to see — a policy that Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have described as a form of collective punishment and apartheid control.

In addition, 1,205 prisoners have been labeled by Israel as “unlawful combatants,” a classification that strips them of basic legal protections under international humanitarian law. The report clarified that this category does not include all detainees from Gaza currently held in undisclosed Israeli facilities, nor those from Lebanon and Syria, who also face similar treatment.

Since October 2023, Israel has launched a mass arrest campaign across the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, targeting activists, journalists, and family members of martyrs. Many detainees have been subjected to systematic torture, starvation, and isolation, while others have died in custody due to medical negligence and deliberate denial of treatment.

Prisoners’ rights groups have documented harrowing testimonies from recently released detainees describing beatings, electric shocks, sexual harassment, and forced disappearances in Israeli interrogation centers such as Petah Tikva, Megiddo, and Naqab (Negev) prisons.

Human rights organizations have warned that Israel’s actions against Palestinian prisoners amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity, calling on the United Nations and the International Criminal Court (ICC) to intervene.

Despite mounting international criticism, Israel continues to expand its use of arbitrary detention and collective punishment — measures that Palestinian groups describe as part of a broader policy of colonial domination and ethnic cleansing.

As the Palestinian Prisoners’ Society emphasized: “Every cell, every child detained, and every woman humiliated behind Israeli bars is a testament to the brutality of occupation and the resilience of a people who refuse to surrender their right to freedom.” (ILKHA)