Systematic Starvation and Beating Against Detainees in Megiddo Prison

The Commission of Detainees’ Affairs revealed in its latest report issued Sunday, June 1, 2025, that detainees in Israel’s Megiddo Prison, particularly minors, are enduring harsh and inhumane conditions marked by deliberate starvation and repeated physical assaults carried out by prison authorities.

The prison houses nine sections, each containing around 72 detainees.

According to the Commission's attorney, 24-year-old Fadi Ibrahim Shami, from the city of Nablus, who has been held since May 11, 2023 and is scheduled for a court hearing on June 22, 2025, has lost 22 kilograms due to the policy of enforced hunger practiced systematically across Israeli prisons.

In a separate case, 15-year-old minor detainee Qais Nasser Mohammad Deen Shehadeh was subjected to repeated beatings, first during his detention at the Etzion facility, and again during his transfer to Megiddo. He was violently arrested from his home on April 20, 2025.

Similarly, 17-year-old Hamzeh Omar Muhaysin, from Al-Arroub Refugee Camp, was arrested from his home on the same date. He is currently being held in Section 5, Room 11 of the prison, where he also faced multiple instances of physical abuse during his arrest.

The Commission’s lawyer further noted that the prison administration frequently shortens the detainees' daily outdoor time, which is legally mandated to be at least one hour. Meanwhile, outbreaks of scabies are spreading rapidly inside the prison due to severe neglect, unsanitary conditions, and lack of proper ventilation. Even medical treatment has proven ineffective. Food rations are dangerously scarce, barely enough to sustain basic survival.