RAMALLAH, (Palestine Foundation Information Center), The Palestine Center for Prisoners Studies warned of the worsening conditions of Palestinian prisoners inside Israeli prisons, in light of the significant rise in temperatures, emphasizing that the occupation authority (IOA) exploits heatwaves and weather fluctuations to take revenge on the prisoners and double their suffering.
The Center explained, in a press release, that the IOA exploits the harsh climatic conditions to intensify the suffering of the prisoners, by depriving them of basic ventilation means that would alleviate the effects of the extreme heat.
It pointed out that the occupation prison administration closed the ventilation outlets in a number of sections and cells with iron sheets that limit the entry of natural air.
It pointed to the escalation of punitive measures against prisoners since October 7, 2023, after the prison administration confiscated fans from the prisoners’ rooms, which were the only available means to alleviate the high temperatures inside the rooms and cells, which led to the deterioration of living conditions and turned detention places into a suffocating environment that threatens the health and safety of the prisoners.
The Center confirmed that the Israeli prisons are witnessing unprecedented overcrowding as a result of the wide arrest campaigns carried out by the occupation forces in the West Bank and Jerusalem, which prompted the prison administration to place numbers exceeding the capacity inside the rooms.
It added that a large number of prisoners are forced to sleep on the floor in difficult conditions, amid high temperatures and humidity, and the reduction of recess hours or their complete prevention in some prisons.
The Center indicated that prisoners rely on water as almost the only means to alleviate the effects of the heat, as many of them resort to wetting their clothes and blankets repeatedly to reduce the feeling of suffocation and exhaustion, while sick, elderly, and child prisoners suffer from increasing health complications as a result of these conditions.
It reported that the prison administration repeatedly rejected the prisoners’ demands to provide ventilation means, or return fans and open closed windows, considering that these policies fall within a deliberate approach aimed at tightening detention conditions and imposing a harsh environment that negatively affects the physical and psychological health of the detainees.
The Palestine Center warned that the continuation of these practices constitutes a form of collective punishment against the prisoners, and increases the health risks to which they are exposed in light of the lack of medical care and the deterioration of living conditions inside the prisons.
It called on international, human rights, and humanitarian institutions to take urgent action and pressure the IOA to stop violations against prisoners, and ensure the provision of detention conditions that comply with international standards.
The Center renewed its warning that continued international silence regarding what detainees are subjected to exacerbates the extent of suffering and poses greater risk to their lives.
More than 9,400 Palestinian prisoners are fighting a daily battle with the harsh summer heat, as their suffering in Israeli prisons is not limited to deprivation of freedom, but extends to suffocating detention conditions that make narrow cells an unbearable environment with temperatures rising to record levels.
