■ Palestinian political detainee killed in Israeli occupation’s custody

26/2/2025
Commission of Detainees' Affairs & Palestinian Prisoners' Society

Ramallah, Palestine - Israeli occupation authorities have disclosed the killing of Palestinian political detainee Raafat Abu Fanouneh in their custody. Occupation authorities informed the Palestinian General Authority for Civil Affairs that Abu Fanouneh lost his life today, on February 26, 2025.

Raafat Adnan Abdulaziz Abu Fanouneh is a 34-year-old husband and father who was abducted by the occupation army from the Gaza Strip on October 7, 2023. He did not have any pre-existing health issues. The circumstances and manner in which he was killed remain unclear because occupation authorities have imposed an information blackout on the prisoners.

Abu Fanouneh was being held at the Ramla Prison and was recently transferred to the occupation’s Assaf Harofeh Hospital where he was announced dead. He was wounded by soldiers during his arrest, and his brother Shadi was also taken along with him. Occupation authorities refused to allow any lawyer visits to Abu Fanouneh during his time in detention, leaving his family in the dark for 16 months, before learning that he lost his life today. Since October 7, 2023, family visits have been completely halted.

Abu Fanouneh is the latest Palestinian to be killed in the occupation’s prisons and military camps in obscure ways that the Israeli army continues to conceal. With Abu Fanouneh, there have been 60 identified Palestinian political detainees who have been killed in custody since the start of the genocide in October 2023, at least 39 of them arrested from Gaza. Dozens more have been killed with the occupation refusing to reveal their fate or identities, leaving countless families in fear and psychological torture. The total number of identified martyred detainees since the occupation of 1967 is 297 people. The rate of killings in prisons and military camps is the highest historically.

The occupation army only responds sporadically and arbitrarily to legal requests for information, and often uses the pretext of an ‘ongoing investigation’ to evade accountability, and to torture Palestinians both physically and mentally as a matter of policy. The Israeli army is the only official side able to reveal the fate of martyred Palestinian detainees since there is no evidence of their killing with the army continuing to withhold their bodies.

The Commission and the PPS stress that the rate of Palestinian detainees losing their lives is unprecedented and will only increase with time. Thousands of Palestinians are held behind bars undergoing a myriad of severe violations including torture, starvation, sexual assault, deprivation of medical treatment, unsanitary conditions leading grave and infectious diseases. The international community must act now to save the lives of Palestinian political prisoners in Israeli custody.

Abu Al Hummus: We call our Egyptian and Qatari brothers to exert pressure on the Israeli authorities to stop breaching the ceasefire agreement and prisoner’s exchange

February 24, 2025

The head of the Commission of Detainees’ Affairs, Raed Abu Al Hummus, condemned the crime of the occupation authorities represented in refusing the release of the seventh group of prisoners, who where supposed to leave prisons last Saturday.

Abu Al Hummus emphasized that these practices confirm the inhumane and unethical mentality of the occupation, and that the manipulation and delay in release process caused a state of tension and distress to the relatives of prisoners. Moreover, he stated that the occupation's attempts to evade its commitments—after more than forty days of continuous compliance, which resulted in the release of hundreds of our heroic prisoners, including prominent leaders and symbols of the prisoners’ movement—will not weaken the determination and resilience of the Palestinian people. Hope will be there always until we receive all our heroes.

Abu Al Hummus called on our Egyptian and Qatari brothers to exert all forms of pressure to compel the negotiations team on behalf of the occupation to release the seventh group of prisoners, adhere to the terms of the agreement and to stop the unjustified manipulation, which reveals the extent of fragility of the occupation system.

Furthermore, he pointed out that the breaches recorded throughout the exchange deal, are accompanied by measures to divide the West Bank with more than 900 checkpoints and gates, and preventing citizens from arriving to Ramallah and Al Birah, especially in the days of release, which exposed the hatred and brutality of this occupation.

Abu Al Hummus confirmed that there is a close follow up with relevant parties regarding the release of the seventh group, in which Israel will be forced to implement within the next hours or days, and he also stated that the Egyptian efforts are continuous in this regard.

Occupation reveals martyrdom of Palestinian detainee seven weeks late
24/2/2025

Ramallah, Palestine – Israeli occupation authorities have disclosed the martyrdom of Palestinian political detainee Mus’ab Haniyeh, 35, in response to a legal request for information by the Commission of Detainees’ Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoners’ Society (PPS) about the man’s fate.

Haniyeh was killed on January 5, 2025, in Israeli custody. He had been arrested from Hamad city in the Gaza Strip 10 months prior, on March 3, 2024, in good health. He was a husband and father to a nine-year-old boy. The occupation refuses to divulge the manner in which Haniyeh was killed, or even where he was being held.

Haniyeh is the latest Palestinian to be killed in the occupation’s prisons and military camps in obscure ways that the Israeli army continues to conceal. With Haniyeh, there have been 59 identified Palestinian political detainees who have been killed in custody since the start of the genocide in October 2023, at least 38 of them arrested from Gaza. Dozens more have been killed with the occupation refusing to reveal their fate or identities, leaving countless families in fear and psychological torture. The total number of identified martyred detainees since the occupation of 1967 is 296 people. The rate of killings in prisons and military camps is the highest historically.

The occupation army only responds sporadically and arbitrarily to legal requests for information, and often uses the pretext of an ‘ongoing investigation’ to evade accountability, and to torture Palestinians both physically and mentally as a matter of policy. The Israeli army is the only official side able to reveal the fate of martyred Palestinian detainees since there is no evidence of their killing with the army continuing to withhold their bodies.

The Commission and the PPS stress that the rate of Palestinian detainees losing their lives is unprecedented and will only increase with time. Thousands of Palestinians are held behind bars undergoing a myriad of severe violations including torture, starvation, sexual assault, deprivation of medical treatment, unsanitary conditions leading grave and infectious diseases. The international community must act now to save the lives of Palestinian political prisoners in Israeli custody.

Commission of Detainees' Affairs & Palestinian Prisoners' Society

Commission of Detainees’ Affairs:
Ongoing nightly inspections inside Gilboa Prison sections accompanied by assaults against detainees and severe beatings

We call our Egyptian and Qatari brothers to exert pressure on the Israeli authorities to stop breaching the ceasefire agreement and prisoner’s exchange

The head of the Commission of Detainees’ Affairs

Raed Abu Al Hummus

Commission of Detainees’ Affairs & Palestinian Society Prisoner’s Club

House demolition is a collective punitive measure against detainees and their relatives

February 19, 2025

The Commission of Detainees’ Affairs and the Palestinian Society Prisoner’s Club stated that the so-called Israeli supreme court has rejected a petition submitted by the family of detainee Hayel Daifullah, against the demolition order for their home. The order was issued by the Israeli military commander under the so-called "Mandate Emergency Regulations," which grant Israeli authorities the power to demolish the homes of Palestinian detainees accused of carrying out operations against Israeli forces, under the pretext of "deterrence."

The Commission and the Palestinian Society Prisoners’ Club emphasized that the policy of demolishing detainees' homes constitutes collective punishment, violating international law.
This policy is exclusively applied to Palestinians while Israeli settlers are exempted, in a blatant violation of Article 3 of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.
Lawyers from the Commission and the Prisoners’ Club stated that the court rejected the family's request to limit the demolition to the room of detainee Hayel, who is accused of carrying out an aggressive attack against Israeli soldiers on Route 60, despite the fact that his family members had no connection to the incident.

The court also dismissed the family's plea to preserve the ceiling of the house, which contains support columns for a planned second floor intended for the detainee's son after his marriage, as demolishing the ceiling would cause significant damage to the young man and the family.
According to the court’s decision, the family has until February 26, 2025, to evacuate the home before its demolition.
In a related context, lawyers from the Commission and the Prisoners’ Club reported that Israeli authorities retracted their decision to demolish an entire apartment belonging to the family of detainee Ahmed Al-Haimouni from Hebron.
The family had previously been informed of the intention to demolish an entire floor that included both Al-Haimouni’s apartment and his uncle’s. However, following the family's objection to the demolition of the uncle’s apartment—given that the detainee had no connection to that part of the house—the court approved the exclusion of the uncle’s apartment from demolition.

The decision was based on an architectural plan attached to the demolition notice, which clearly showed that the shared wall between the two apartments lacked any doors, proving that the units were separate with distinct entrances. Nevertheless, the court upheld the decision to demolish Al-Haimouni’s family apartment, which is set to be destroyed by an explosion.

Commission of Detainees’ Affairs:
The administration of the Russian Compound Prison deprives the sick detainee Sireen Saaedi from treatment

"With the martyrdom of detainee Musab Haniya, the number of martyrs of the prisoner movement inside the occupation’s prisons since October of last year has reached 59, raising the total number of known martyrs of the prisoner movement since 1967 to 296. It is worth noting that there are dozens of martyrs among Gaza detainees who are victims of the crime of enforced disappearance."

February 24, 2025

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