Harsh conditions endured by female prisoners at Damon Prison

Harsh conditions endured by female prisoners at Damon Prison

August 5, 2026

Detainee Hanaa Mohammad Muhyeealdeen Tahayna (48), from the city of Jenin, is currently held at Damon Prison. She was arrested on June 8, 2026, and placed under administrative detention. She is the mother of six children.

In a report issued on Wednesday, the Commission of Detainees' Affairs stated that Tahaynah is experiencing imprisonment for the first time. However, she had long been familiar with its hardship as the wife of former prisoner Sharif Tahaynah, who previously spent ten years in Israeli prisons.

According to her testimony to the Commission's lawyer, Israeli occupation forces raided her home at approximately 3:00 a.m., searched the house, and arrested her without allowing her to bid farewell to her children. Soldiers handcuffed her with plastic restraints, blindfolded her, and forced her to walk a long distance despite the fact that military vehicles could have reached the vicinity of her home.
Tahayneh further stated that she was kept for hours in a small room resembling a storage closet while handcuffed and blindfolded, and was denied access to the bathroom. During her transfer to Sharon Prison, she felt that one of the soldiers was filming her. When she attempted to slightly lift her blindfold, she was subjected to shouting and verbal abuse. Upon arrival at the prison, she was strip-searched, beaten, humiliated, dragged, and her head was violently forced to the ground. After this painful ordeal, she was transferred to Damon Prison, where she remains detained.

The detainee also suffers from several chronic medical conditions, including migraines, rheumatism, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), and varicose veins accompanied by persistent pain. Despite her condition, the Israeli Prison Service refused to provide her with even a single painkiller.

The conditions endured by female prisoners in Damon Prison remain extremely harsh. The prison lacks the most basic necessities of humane living, including adequate food, clothing, and essential feminine hygiene supplies. In addition, the women are subjected to repeated punitive raids and searches of their cells without justification, forced into the prison yard during the peak of the scorching summer heat, and insulted with degrading and offensive language.