Figures and facts about Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons

The Palestinian institutions concerned with the affairs of prisoners in Israeli occupation prisons issued a fact sheet regarding the reality of Palestinian prisoners in prisons and their numbers, on the occasion of Palestinian Prisoner’s Day, which falls on April 17 of each year.

The numbers reflected what the institutions described as radical transformations in the reality of the prisoners after October 7, whether detainees in the West Bank or the Gaza Strip, in light of the comprehensive aggression against the Palestinian people and their prisoners, and the continuation of genocide in Gaza for more than 6 consecutive months.

The institutions’ paper came in light of the testimonies of prisoners inside prisons and others who were released, conveying the escalation of the occupation’s crimes against prisoners since October 7, in terms of the intensity of torture, abuse, and retaliatory measures that were practiced on them inside prisons, which led to the release of 16 prisoners, in addition to the martyrdom of 27 prisoners from People of the Gaza Strip, inside the occupation prisons, while the occupation continues to refuse to disclose the fate of thousands of people in the Strip, including women and children who are still detained in prisons and camps.

9,500 male and female prisoners

The Palestinian institutions, namely the Commission for Ex-Prisoners’ Affairs, the Prisoner’s Club, and the Addameer Foundation, announced that the number of prisoners in Israeli occupation prisons has reached more than 9,500 male and female prisoners, in light of the continuing arrest campaigns taking place in the occupied Palestinian territories.

According to data published by institutions, the number of Palestinian female prisoners witnessed a noticeable increase after October 7, when their number reached 80 female prisoners.

The number of administrative detainees in the occupation prisons also witnessed an unprecedented rise in history, reaching more than 3,660 detainees, including 22 women and more than 40 children.

Regarding child prisoners, institutions reported that the number of children imprisoned in the occupation prisons reached more than 200 children, distributed among several prisons, including “Megiddo,” “Ofer,” and “Damon.”

According to the data available to the relevant institutions, 24 children from Gaza are detained in prisons, and they are part of the total number of children imprisoned in “Megiddo” prison.

The institutions pointed out that, despite the reports issued, there is no confirmed information about the presence of other children from the Gaza Strip in the camps, in light of the continuing crime of enforced disappearance.

Patients, journalists, and prisoners’ deputies

Among the Palestinian detainees are also sick people, journalists, and members of the Legislative Council, as institutions indicated that the number of sick prisoners in the occupation prisons increased significantly after October 7, and that many of their health conditions worsened significantly as a result of the policy of torture and health neglect.

As for journalists, the number of journalists in the occupation prisons reached 56, including 45 who were arrested after October 7, 2023.

The institutions’ paper also indicated the presence of 17 deputies in the Palestinian Legislative Council inside the occupation prisons, including the two prisoners, leaders Marwan Barghouti and Ahmed Saadat, indicating that most of the deputies are in administrative detention.

In a related context, the institutions indicated that the occupation had classified more than 849 detainees as “unlawful combatants,” according to its description, a classification dating back to the beginning of this April.

Old prisoners

Likewise, the institutions said that the number of former detainees who were arrested before the signing of the “Oslo” agreement between the Palestinian Authority and the occupation in 1993 was 21 prisoners, after the martyrdom of the prisoner, Commander Walid Daqqa, on April 7, 2024, which is current, and he was one of the prisoners before the aforementioned agreement.

Among these former prisoners is the prisoner Muhammad Al-Tus from the town of Al-Jabaa, who has been detained since 1985.

According to the Commission’s data, in addition to the veteran prisoners who are continuously detained, there are 11 others who were arrested before the signing of the “Oslo” Accords. They were released as part of the “Loyalty to the Free” deal in 2011 between the resistance and the occupation in exchange for the Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, then they were re-arrested in 2014.

Among these former prisoners is the prisoner leader Nael Barghouti, who spent the longest detention period in the history of the prisoner movement in two stages, with the total years of his detention reaching more than 44 years.

Also added to these veteran prisoners are the prisoners of the Al-Aqsa Intifada, many of whom have spent more than 21 years in detention in occupation prisons. Among these veteran prisoners are military leaders, most of whom are serving life sentences.

The institutions’ paper stated that the number of prisoners serving life sentences, and awaiting life sentences, is about 600 prisoners. Regarding the captured martyrs, their number has risen to 252 martyrs since 1967.

16 prisoners and detainees died inside the occupation prisons after October 7, 2023, and were added to the previous martyrs.

The institutions confirmed that this number does not include all the martyrs of the captive movement after October 7, while the identities of the majority of martyrs from Gaza detainees who were raised in camps belonging to the occupation “army” continue to be hidden.

The paper mentioned the martyr prisoner and Palestinian thinker Walid Daqqa (Abu Milad), who was martyred on April 7 of this year, in “Assaf Harofeh Hospital” after 38 years of detention, where he faced all kinds of torment, abuse, plunder, deprivation, and isolation, until he contracted cancer, and did not die. He was released despite the end of his sentence, and his family was not allowed to visit him until his martyrdom.

The institutions pointed out that the occupation held the bodies of 27 martyred prisoners, the oldest of whom was the martyr Anis Dawla, whose body has been held since 1980.

The number of prisoners doubled

The institutions' paper also devoted space to reviewing Israel's escalating arrests of Palestinians in the cities of the West Bank and Jerusalem, after October 7, as the total number of arrest campaigns in the West Bank, including Jerusalem, has reached more than 8,270 prisoners so far.

The ongoing campaigns include all Palestinian groups, as arrests are carried out in an organized manner, whether from homes, through military checkpoints, or those who were forced by the occupation to surrender themselves under pressure, as well as those who were held hostage.

In details of the arrests, the number of arrests among women reached about 275 cases, including women who were arrested from the interior territories in 1948, and arrests among women who were from Gaza and were arrested in the West Bank.

The number of arrests among children reached about 520 cases, while the number of arrests among journalists after October 7 reached 66 cases, of whom 45 journalists remain in detention.

The occupation issued more than 5,168 administrative detention orders against prisoners, including women and children, in light of escalating crimes and violations, including: operations of destruction, devastation, abuse, severe beatings, and confiscation of property.

The institutions also indicated that, within the framework of the truce agreement concluded in November 2023, 240 male and female prisoners were released in 7 exchange batches, but the occupation re-arrested 15 of them, and maintained the detention of 13 of them, including 5 children and 4 women.

These data come in light of the occupation continuing to refuse to disclose any information regarding the number of detainees from Gaza, and continuing to commit the crime of enforced disappearance against them, in addition to arresting Palestinians from Gaza who were present in the West Bank or in the city of Jerusalem for treatment.