Solidarity, emergency legal help for Palestinians

Since the start of the war on the 7 October 2023, the Israeli military and other security forces have arrested thousands of Palestinians, leading to a significant increase in the number of individuals held in Israeli facilities. As of June 2024, Israel holds 9,300 Palestinians classified by the Israel Prison Service (IPS) as "security prisoners or detainees", more than doubling the number of Palestinians held prior to 7 October. Included in this figure are 3,410 administrative detainees, held without charge or the possibility of trial. For the past eight months, Israeli authorities have also ramped up the torture and ill-treatment of Palestinian detainees and prisoners, with testimonies of victims and witnesses exposing extremely severe abuse.

Walid Daqqa Dies in Israeli Prison

Around 54 Palestinian prisoners have died in Israeli prisons and military facilities since 7 October 2023. Walid Daqqa, the longest serving Palestinian citizen of Israel (PCI), who spent 38 years in Israeli prison, is one of them. He was due to complete his sentence in March 2025, but on 7 April 2024 he passed away from cancer, after prolonged medical neglect while in Israeli custody. During his imprisonment, Daqqa authored several books in which he documented his experiences and advocated for justice for his fellow prisoners and for the Palestinian people in general.

Daqqa’s story did not end with his death, as his family is now being denied the opportunity to grieve their loss with dignity. Israeli prison authorities have refused to release Daqqa’s body to his family for burial; Adalah is challenging this illegal detention before the Israeli Supreme Court (SCT). The state argued that the petition must be dismissed because the Israeli Security Cabinet decided, retroactively and with no basis in law, to withhold Daqqa's body for a potential prisoner-captives exchange deal with Hamas. However, the court ruled that the state to must explain why it will not release his body. The court's order effectively shifts the burden of proof to the state to justify the legality of withholding Daqqa’s body; the state’s response is due by 15 July 2024.

The unprecedented number of deaths of Palestinians in Israeli custody, and preliminary evidence of these deaths, indicate that abuse by IPS and army personnel likely caused the death in many of these cases.

Torture, Ill-Treatment and Collective Punishment of Palestinian Prisoners

Testimonies of Palestinian prisoners and detainees held in Israeli prisons reveal severe breaches of the absolute prohibition of torture and other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment by IPS authorities including physical assaults causing major injuries, sexual harassment and intimidation directed at both male and female detainees, as well as other humiliating acts and threats. These actions also constitute collective punishment and blatant violations of both domestic and international law.

On 19 February 2024, Adalah, together with other human rights organizations jointly submitted a report to the UN Special Rapporteur (SR) on Torture urging the SR to take immediate action. The report, supported by the World Organization Against Torture (OMCT), provides details on 19 cases, emphasizing an alarming trend and brutal escalation of abuse.

READ: Urgent report to the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture

On 23 May 2024, the UN SR on Torture issued a statement urging Israel to investigate torture against Palestinian detainees, including “allegations of individuals being beaten, kept in cells blindfolded and handcuffed for excessive periods, deprived of sleep, and threatened with physical and sexual violence.” The SR also noted that this “emerging pattern of violations, coupled with an absence of accountability and transparency, is creating a permissive environment for further abusive and humiliating treatment of Palestinians.”

READ: The statement of the UN SR on Torture

Palestinians from Gaza Held as Unlawful Combatants

As of June 2024, according to data provided by the Israel Prison Service (IPS), 899 Palestinian residents of Gaza are being held in Israeli prisons as "unlawful combatants", under Israeli law. Based on its firsthand documentation and available information, Al Mezan has estimated almost double that number- around 1,650 individuals- are being interned by Israel.

In the context of an Israeli SCT petition brought by human rights NGOs to close the Israeli military camp of Sde Teiman, and following media reports by whistleblowers of torture being used against detainees there, the state admitted that it was holding over 1,000 Palestinians from Gaza in this facility as “unlawful combatants”. The army had previously refused to release this information, and the SCT has repeatedly dismissed “habeas corpus” requests seeking to locate Palestinians from Gaza who disappeared after being detained.

An amendment to the Unlawful Combatants Law, passed as a temporary order on 18 December 2023, permits the military to detain individuals without a warrant for up to 45 days, to defer a first court hearing for individuals for up to 75 days, and to deny them access to legal counsel for up to 180 days. Thus, this new order effectively places these individuals in incommunicado detention, as the military deliberately withholds information regarding the detainees’ identity and denies them access to external visitors, including the ICRC. On 19 February 2024, after months of Israel’s refusal to disclose information, Adalah, together with partner human rights organizations, petitioned the Israeli Supreme Court demanding the cancellation of the amendment. The case remains pending.

Some attorneys have very recently been granted permission to visit Palestinian detainees from Gaza held as unlawful combatants in Sde Teiman and the Ofer detention facility. They have provided harrowing testimonies to the media about the inhuman conditions under which the prisoners are being held.

Read more in Adalah’s Newsletter, 17 April 2024: Palestinian Prisoners’ Day: Torture and ill-treatment in Israeli prisons