RAMALLAH, (PIC)
Thousands of Palestinian and Arab prisoners in Israeli occupation jails welcome Eid al-Fitr deprived of their most basic human rights, as unprecedented policies of abuse and isolation have turned prisons into “fields of extermination,” according to human rights organizations.
By early March 2026, the number of prisoners and detainees in Israeli jails had risen to more than 9,500, including 79 women and 350 children held in Megiddo and Ofer prisons. Statistics show that the occupation is expanding arrests without clear charges, with “administrative detainees” reaching 3,442, about 36% of the total.
Israel also holds 1,249 detainees under the label “unlawful combatants,” a classification that includes prisoners from Gaza and Arab countries such as Lebanon and Syria. These figures exclude many Gazan detainees forcibly disappeared in military camps.
Deprivation of visits and decades of waiting
Since the onset of the genocide, Israeli occupation authorities have tightened their grip on prisons, completely banning family visits. Hundreds of prisoners have spent decades behind bars without touching their loved ones; some are nearing 40 years in captivity, many losing relatives without the chance to bid farewell.
The isolation intensified after Israel halted visits by legal teams, cutting off the “only window” connecting prisoners to the outside world and leaving them vulnerable to unmonitored repression by prison authorities.
Abuse under political supervision
Last Ramadan witnessed violent, systematic raids on prison sections, some led by extremist minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who recently appeared in a video standing before an execution platform prepared for executing Palestinian prisoners.
The repression included physical and sexual assaults, systematic starvation, and denial of medical care, leading to the death of more than 100 prisoners, 88 of whom have been identified, while dozens of bodies of Gaza martyrs remain withheld and forcibly disappeared.
Emergency extension: Legalizing violations
In a move to legitimize these harsh conditions, Israel announced the renewal of the state of emergency in prisons until May. This extension means the continuation of exceptional measures, including failure to meet the minimum space per prisoner in overcrowded cells under the pretext of “security needs,” worsening daily suffering and turning living conditions into ongoing torment.
As families prepare for Eid, thousands of seats remain empty at Palestinian tables, awaiting a dawn of freedom amid international silence and relentless Israeli escalation.