Ahed Tamimi was just 16 when she was first arrested by Israel, after kicking and shoving two Israeli soldiers who raided her village in the occupied West Bank in 2017. The video of the event went viral, and Tamimi’s story became a global one. Her mother, who livestreamed the incident, was arrested for incitement and served alongside her in prison. Upon their release eight months later, Ahed told journalists, “Life in prison was very difficult. Anyone who also chooses this path should prepare themselves to spend time in prison.” Indeed, Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails have become a prominent symbol of resistance to occupation. Their unfair prosecution in military courts and incarceration under brutal conditions expose Israel’s judicial double standard—a civilian legal system for Israelis and a harsh military one for Palestinians under occupation—and violations of international humanitarian law.
It was not a surprise when Tamimi was rearrested after the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel, along with more than 3,000 other Palestinians from the West Bank, in a sweeping military round-up that left the United Nations “seriously concerned.” More than a dozen Israeli soldiers raided Tamimi’s home on the night of November 6 on suspicions of “inciting violence and calling for terrorist activity.” Israel alleged that Tamimi made a post inciting violence on Instagram, despite her family’s protestations that her account was hacked. News outlets were not able to authenticate that the posting was hers, and the Israeli military offered no comment.
Ahed was released weeks later as part of a deal in which Israel freed 240 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for Hamas’s release of 105 mainly Israeli hostages in the Gaza Strip. She grimly reported the conditions of her imprisonment and that of other detainees. Tamimi told the press, “The circumstance in the prison is very difficult, with daily abuse against female prisoners. They are left without water or clothes, sleeping on the floor and being beaten…The Israeli authorities threatened me with [targeting] my father if I spoke about anything that happens in prison.”
The vast majority of the more than 800,000 Palestinians imprisoned by Israel since the beginning of the Israeli occupation in 1967 have not garnered international attention.
The vast majority of the more than 800,000 Palestinians imprisoned by Israel since the beginning of the Israeli occupation in 1967 have not garnered international attention—a reality that Ahed has herself acknowledged. Global media coverage of the recent prisoner exchange, however, has shined a new spotlight on Israel’s systematic abusive detention of Palestinians.
Who Are the Released Prisoners?
Release of prisoners has long been used as a negotiating tool between Israel and various parties, like Hamas and Hezbollah. Perhaps the most well-known such deal was in 2011, when Israel freed more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier captured by Hamas in 2006. But prisoner release is not used just in negotiations with Palestinians. In 2004, Israel agreed to release hundreds of Palestinian and other Arab prisoners in exchange for Hezbollah freeing a kidnapped Israeli businessman and the bodies of three Israeli soldiers. In 2008, Israel struck another deal with Hezbollah that saw the release of five Palestinian prisoners and the bodies of hundreds of Hezbollah fighters in exchange for the bodies of two Israeli soldiers.
During the November 24-December 1 pause in hostilities negotiated between Israel and Hamas, 240 Palestinian prisoners were released in exchange for 105 hostages (mostly Israelis) held in Gaza. Among the Palestinians freed were 107 children, including five 14-year-old boys, and 68 women, 10 of whom had been imprisoned for more than six years. While all 240 had been accused by Israel of crimes, including stone throwing and “supporting terrorism,” more than three-quarters had not been convicted of any crime. Like Ahed Tamimi, 37 of those released had been arrested in Israel’s post-October 7 West Bank sweeps, some for simply making social media posts about Gaza or sharing verses from the Quran online. They were charged under a draconian Israeli law that considers “publishing words of praise, support or sympathy, waving a flag, displaying or publishing a symbol, or displaying, playing or publishing a slogan or anthem” as supporting terrorism.
Many of the released prisoners who had been detained before October 7 were not aware of the events that occurred on and after that day or the negotiations underway on their behalf.
Many of the released prisoners who had been detained before October 7 were not aware of the events that occurred on and after that day or the negotiations underway on their behalf. They were taken from their cells by guards without knowing where they were going, unaware that their family members were hurriedly on their way to pick them up. Withholding such information from detainees is part and parcel of their overall inhumane treatment by Israel.
Videos of released prisoners joyously reuniting with their families were shared widely across social media. But for those arrested from East Jerusalem, Israel ordered such celebrations unacceptable. Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir—who, incidentally, was convicted in 2007 of eight charges including incitement to racism and supporting a terrorist organization, stated: “My instructions are clear: There are to be no expressions of joy. Expressions of joy are equivalent to backing terrorism, victory celebrations give backing to those human scum, for those Nazis.”
One mother, whose daughter was released from prison after serving eight years for allegedly stabbing an Israeli police officer who reported no injuries, told CNN, “The Israeli authorities were with us from 2 p.m. They surrounded the house and ripped down the decorations of any display of celebration. They stole the joy of my daughter’s release.” When Israeli officials deem family celebrations as backing terrorism, it is clear how loosely Israel applies this term to the Palestinians under its control.
Of course, for many prisoners’ families, there was no rejoicing to be had. Of the 7,000 Palestinians currently detained by Israel, some 350 prisoners were on the original list for release, and many families eagerly awaited their arrival. When the exchange was completed without their freedom, families’ hope evaporated. Many families report that they may go years before they are able to speak to their detained loved ones and may have no idea of their status. On December 5, Physicians for Human Rights-Israel reported that six prisoners died in Israeli custody in recent weeks, after most prisoners lost full access to their lawyers, contact with their families, or Red Cross representatives following October 7.
A System of Criminal Injustice
In July 2023, Francesca Albanese, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967, issued a damning report on the entirety of the Israeli occupation, likening all of the occupied territories to an open-air prison. But she called special attention to the issue of Palestinian detainees in Israeli jails: “[Palestinians] are often presumed guilty without evidence, arrested without warrants, detained without charge or trial and brutalised in Israeli custody. Mass incarceration serves the purpose of quelling peaceful opposition against the occupation, protecting the Israeli military and settlers, and ultimately facilitating settler-colonial encroachment.”
As part of what many human rights organizations have called a system of apartheid maintained by Israel, Palestinians in the occupied territories are subject to a different set of laws than are Israelis living on the same land.
Albanese described a system that primarily exists to stifle and repress any form of Palestinian protest, especially protest against the very system of oppression that renders them subjects of Israeli rule. As part of what many human rights organizations have called a system of apartheid maintained by Israel, Palestinians in the occupied territories are subject to a different set of laws than are Israelis living on the same land. While Israeli settlers regularly commit violence against Palestinians in the West Bank, and Israeli politicians consistently incite violence against Palestinians, only Palestinians are subject to Israeli laws under which they can be imprisoned for the expression of opinions that “harm public peace or public order” or for “political” gatherings of more than 10 people.
The Israeli military regularly raids Palestinian homes without warrants, which Israeli law requires for searches of settlers’ homes. Palestinians can be held for eight days before appearing before a judge, while Israeli law requires that most Israelis see a judge within one day. Furthermore, Palestinians are subject to Israeli military courts, which have a nearly 100 percent conviction rate. Systems of pretrial detention, sentencing, early release, and access to legal counsel also privilege Israelis and violate multiple human rights conventions and agreements that protect prisoners’ rights. Even Palestinian children are charged as adults in the same military courts and detained in the same prisons. Palestinians as young as 12 years old are arrested in night raids, interrogated without the presence of a family member, and held in detention for the entirety of the proceedings against them.
The most recent prisoner release also brought long overdue attention to the problem of administrative detention, in which Israel holds prisoners indefinitely without trial or even without charges, on the basis that the prisoner is allegedly planning to commit a future crime. This practice is almost exclusively used with Palestinians. Administrative detention orders are often based on supposedly classified evidence, which is not provided to the detainee or her lawyer and is often withheld from human rights groups that are asked by prisoners or their families to intervene in cases. Israel’s use of administrative detention has escalated in recent decades. According to Palestinian prisoners’ rights group Addameer, only 12 Palestinians were held in administrative detention at the time of the second Intifada in the early 2000s. Just before October 7, Israeli human rights group B’Tselem reported that 1,326 Palestinians were being held in administrative detention. By the end of November 2023 there were more than 2,000, according to Human Rights Watch.
Recently released prisoners confirmed decades of reports about torture and inhumane conditions in Israeli jails. In 2000, the Israeli government issued a report showing that Shin Bet, the Israeli internal security service, systematically tortured Palestinian prisoners during the first Intifada (1987-1993) and arguing that “the irregularities were not, for the most part, the result of not knowing the line between the permissible and the forbidden, but rather were committed knowingly.” Despite long-standing public knowledge and condemnation of these practices, they have continued—aside from physical and psychological abuse and torture, prisoners also report prolonged sentences in solitary confinement and deprivation of food, water, and needed medical care. And during the current war in Gaza, Israeli forces on many occasions have humiliated Palestinian prisoners by parading them naked in the streets, accusing them of being Hamas fighters because they were “military-aged men” found in areas supposedly off limits to civilians.
During the current war in Gaza, Israeli forces on many occasions have humiliated Palestinian prisoners by parading them naked in the streets, accusing them of being Hamas fighters because they were “military-aged men” found in areas supposedly off limits to civilians.
Female prisoners have reported sexual harassment and assault, including degrading body searches in which prisoners are handcuffed if they resist. Palestinian children have not been spared from torture, with multiple reports of physical and mental abuse of imprisoned minors. In 2021, a children’s rights NGO reported the case of a 15-year-old Palestinian boy who was raped and tortured during his interrogation by Israeli police. Since October 7, reports (many confirmed by video evidence) of mistreatment of detainees, including torture, beatings, confiscation of personal belongings including food, clothing, and sanitary pads, and forced singing of Israeli songs under duress, have increased, requiring renewed attention from human rights groups.
The families of prisoners also suffer in this opaque and unjust system. For prisoners allowed to receive visitors, family members’ journeys to the prison may take up to 15 hours depending on circumstances (due to checkpoints and other barriers to access) and visitors are subject to intrusive searches. Some prisoners are allowed only one visit every few months, while some are denied visits entirely. Israel also uses threats against families to pressure and psychologically torture the prisoners. For example, one recently released female prisoner reported that during her interrogation, guards threatened to go to her home and burn it down while her children were asleep.
A Symbol of the Palestinian Struggle
Conditions for Palestinians in Israeli courtrooms and jails, whether they have been convicted of a crime or even formally accused of one, are unjust and inhumane. As Israel increasingly criminalizes Palestinian movements and organizations, including deeming six prominent civil society organizations terrorist entities in 2021, it is no surprise that its arbitrary detention of Palestinians has increased. Many Palestinians accused of violent crimes have been arrested with little evidence, or based on accounts that directly dispute witness testimonies and sometimes even video evidence. Of course, even prisoners convicted of violent crimes with robust evidence have rights.
Coupled with the fact that Palestinians in the occupied territories cannot vote for the Israeli politicians who set the policies that deem all Palestinians a security threat undeserving of the rights it affords to Israeli citizens, including settlers within Palestinian territory, the entire premise of Israel imprisoning Palestinians in Israel is unjust. Indeed, the practice amounts to forcible transfer of a protected person from occupied territory to the territory of the Occupying Power, according to Article 49 of the Geneva Conventions. This violation joins many others committed by Israel against international law as well as agreements made between Israel and the Palestinians.
Palestinians see their prisoners as among those on the frontline of the entire structure of oppression, violence, and dispossession to which they have been subject for generations. Many prisoners have risen to prominence and their cases have become rallying cries.
Palestinians see their prisoners as among those on the frontline of the entire structure of oppression, violence, and dispossession to which they have been subject for generations. Many prisoners have risen to prominence and their cases have become rallying cries. Marwan Barghouti, a prominent Palestinian political leader, maintains great public support despite having been imprisoned since 2002, and Palestinians always mention his name when the issue of prisoner releases is broached. He has very publicly dismissed the legitimacy of the Israeli court system, asserting at his 2004 trial, “This is a court of occupation that I do not recognize.” Ahmed Manasra has been imprisoned since 2015 when, at the age of 13, he was accused of participating in a stabbing attack, although Israeli courts found that he did not actually participate. He has been diagnosed with severe mental health issues and has been kept in solitary confinement for more than two years. Khader Adnan is one of the many Palestinian prisoners who have used hunger strikes to protest the conditions in prison and the overall systematic detention of Palestinians in Israeli jails. He died in May 2023 after an 87-day hunger strike.
Prisoners are among the most forgotten and mistreated segments of any population, including across the Global North. Among the myriad struggles of Palestinians, the shocking spectacle of airstrikes in the Gaza Strip or the routine violence and oppression in the West Bank have animated much of the discourse around human rights and violations of international law. Yet the position and meaning of the many Palestinian prisoners cannot be forgotten, especially as they serve as a harbinger for greater efforts of Israeli repression. As Israel criminalizes more aspects of Palestinian life—from liking social media posts to working at civil society organizations to even foraging wild plants that have been part of Palestinian culture for generations—its unjust legal system must be questioned and condemned. Any comprehensive answer to the Palestinian question must take the details and practices of this system of injustice into account.
The views expressed in this publication are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the position of Arab Center Washington DC, its staff, or its Board of Directors.
Featured image credit: WAFA
