RAMALLAH, (Palestine Foundation Information Center), Imprisoned Palestinian journalist Bushra al-Tawil, 33, is facing repeated beatings and exposure to gas sprayed inside her solitary confinement cell at Ohalei Oz Prison in Beersheba, amid deteriorating health conditions and deprivation of basic necessities. Israeli prison authorities have also renewed her administrative detention for an additional four months.
In a statement on Sunday, the Palestinian Prisoners Society (PPS) said information obtained following a recent visit to al-Tawil revealed that she has been held in solitary confinement for approximately 50 days.
According to the PPS, Israeli prison guards have repeatedly raided her cell, subjecting her to physical assaults and verbal abuse. The most recent attack occurred two days before the visit. She is also kept under constant camera surveillance.
Al-Tawil suffers from dryness of the eyes, skin, and hands, as well as numbness in her hands caused by shackles. She also contracted scabies before being transferred to solitary confinement.
According to her testimony, she receives insufficient food and is forced to drink tap water despite its yellowish color.
She also lacks adequate clothing and is unable to wash the clothes she has. She sleeps on an extremely dirty, poor-quality mattress that makes her feel as though she is sleeping directly on the floor. The blanket provided to her is also in poor condition.
Prison transfers obstruct legal visits
Al-Tawil reported that she was transferred from Damon Prison to the solitary confinement section of Ramla Prison without being told why.
On October 4, she was asked to sign documents indicating that she would be returned to Damon Prison. However, she was surprised to find herself transferred instead to solitary confinement at Ohalei Oz Prison, where she remains detained.
In a statement issued on October 7, Palestinian prisoners’ rights organizations warned that al-Tawil’s continued isolation and repeated transfers between prisons were obstructing legal teams’ access to her, despite multiple requests to visit her.
On October 12, the PPS announced that Israeli authorities had renewed her administrative detention for another four months, keeping her imprisoned without charge or trial while her isolation and mistreatment continued.
Al-Tawil’s case comes amid escalating violations against Palestinian female prisoners, including solitary confinement, abuse, and denial of medical treatment, particularly as scabies continues to spread in Israeli prisons, according to the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club.
On October 12, the organization reported that 87 Palestinian women were being held in Israeli prisons, including 21 under administrative detention, representing approximately one-quarter of all female prisoners.
The PPS stressed that the treatment al-Tawil is enduring threatens her physical and psychological well-being and violates her dignity.
It called on international human rights organizations, particularly the International Committee of the Red Cross, to intervene urgently to end her solitary confinement, ensure her protection, provide her with necessary medical care, and secure her release.
The organization also urged continued monitoring of violations against Palestinian female prisoners, warning that the combined effects of solitary confinement, administrative detention, and deprivation of basic daily necessities are compounding their suffering inside Israeli prisons.
