RAMALLAH, (Palestine Foundation Information Center), Palestinian suffering does not end on the ground but extends inside Israeli occupation prisons, where data from Palestinian human rights organizations reveals a system of detention and repression affecting thousands of Palestinian prisoners.
Among them are administrative detainees held without clear charges, pregnant women, minors and prisoners suffering from chronic illnesses, amid harsh detention conditions and persistent reports of medical neglect, isolation and abuse.
Successive human rights reports show that administrative detention has become one of the Israeli occupation’s primary tools for keeping Palestinians behind bars without trial. Meanwhile, Palestinian women held in Damon Prison face severe humanitarian and health conditions as Israeli authorities continue to issue new administrative detention orders and renew existing ones against Palestinians from across the occupied West Bank.
99% of appeals rejected
The Palestine Center for Prisoners Studies said Israeli security and judicial institutions work in tandem to maintain the detention of thousands of administrative detainees, noting that the vast majority of appeals against extensions of their detention are rejected.
Riyad al-Ashqar, director of the center, said 99% of appeals filed by administrative detainees against extensions of their detention are rejected by Israeli courts, including the Supreme Court, often without explanation.
He added that the so-called Shin Bet reviews appeal files and intervenes in determining the fate of detainees.
Al-Ashqar said the use of alleged “secret files” in appeal proceedings undermines judicial independence and prevents prisoners from accessing the evidence used to justify their continued detention, effectively reducing the appeals process to a largely symbolic procedure with little practical impact.
He added that Israeli courts rarely grant requests for the release of administrative detainees. In some cases, decisions in favor of prisoners are issued only after they have already spent lengthy periods behind bars, before they are detained again under new administrative orders.
More than 22,000 administrative detention orders since war began
Data from the Palestine Center for Prisoners Studies shows that Israeli occupation authorities have dramatically escalated their use of administrative detention since October 7, 2023.
More than 22,000 administrative detention orders, including new and renewed orders, have been issued since the beginning of the war on the Gaza Strip without formal charges or evidence being presented to justify continued detention.
The number of Palestinian administrative detainees has risen from around 1,300 before the war to more than 3,300 as of August 2026, the highest level recorded in decades, according to the report.
The center said administrative detention has become a tool of collective punishment used to remove influential Palestinians, community leaders and members of civil society from public life by keeping them behind bars.
Al-Ashqar warned against the continued use of the policy amid harsh detention conditions and orders that can be repeatedly renewed, saying the practice violates restrictions imposed by international law on administrative detention, which is supposed to be used only as an exceptional measure and under narrowly defined circumstances.
The center called on international institutions to fulfill their responsibilities and pressure Israeli authorities to halt the expansion of administrative detention and release Palestinians held under the policy without clear charges or trials that meet basic standards of justice.
88 Palestinian women in Damon prison: Pregnancy, illness and isolation
Data released by the Palestine Information Center “Moata” shows that 88 Palestinian women are being held in Damon Prison under extremely difficult humanitarian and health conditions.
The figures include two pregnant prisoners who lack adequate medical care and nutrition, while three other women are being held in solitary confinement.
The detainees also include an elderly woman suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, two minor girls isolated in a separate room away from the other prisoners, three women suffering from serious chronic illnesses, and another prisoner with a health condition requiring specialized care.
Recent human rights reports describe Palestinian women in Damon Prison being subjected to raids, restraints and abuse, while their clothing, medication and personal belongings have been confiscated amid deteriorating health conditions and the spread of scabies.
Testimonies from released Palestinian women, documented by the Prisoners Media Office, also describe strip searches, threats, sleep deprivation and severe overcrowding inside cells, forcing some prisoners to sleep on the floor.
Palestinian national bodies and human rights organizations have called on international organizations, particularly the International Committee of the Red Cross and the World Health Organization, to intervene immediately to end a punitive system involving starvation, physical abuse and deliberate medical neglect, and to ensure the protection of Palestinian women prisoners and their fundamental rights.
29 New and renewed administrative detention orders in West Bank
In the latest use of administrative detention, the Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs said Israeli occupation authorities issued new administrative detention orders and renewed existing ones against 29 Palestinian prisoners from across the occupied West Bank.
According to the commission, the orders range from two to six months, continuing a policy under which detainees are denied access to the charges or evidence Israeli authorities claim justify their detention.
The orders affected Palestinians from Jenin, Tubas, Tulkarm, Jericho, al-Bireh, Bethlehem, Jerusalem, Qalqilya and other areas. One order canceled the administrative detention of prisoner Thabet Nayef Mousa Muslim from Talfit.
Detention without charge and “secret files”
Administrative detention allows a person to be held without formal charge or trial, while preventing the detainee and their lawyer from accessing material that Israeli authorities claim constitutes evidence against them.
Israeli authorities rely on alleged “secret files” that neither detainees nor their lawyers are permitted to examine, leaving prisoners uncertain about the basis for their detention and how long they will remain behind bars.
The practice has become one of the harshest tools within Israel’s detention system, as administrative detention orders can be renewed repeatedly, leaving Palestinians facing potentially indefinite imprisonment without a clear judicial process.
More than 9,400 Palestinians behind bars
Official Palestinian human rights figures indicate that more than 9,400 Palestinians are being held in Israeli occupation prisons, including 3,244 administrative detainees. The figure does not include Palestinians detained in military camps run by Israeli occupation forces.
The figures point to a detention system extending across different segments of Palestinian society, affecting men, women, minors, older people and those suffering from illnesses, as Israeli authorities continue issuing and renewing administrative detention orders.
Behind every statistic is a Palestinian deprived of freedom and a family left waiting for release while fearing yet another extension of detention.
Amid continuing reports and testimonies about prison conditions, Palestinian human rights organizations continue to call for an end to administrative detention, respect for prisoners’ rights under international law and basic standards of justice, and international action to halt violations against Palestinian prisoners and secure their release.
