*Commission of Detainees’ Affairs:*

*Vindictive practices and cruel detention conditions experienced by female detainees in Damoun Prison*

May 13, 2024

The Commission of Detainees’ Affairs stated in a report issued today that female detainees held in Damoun Prison are living in a state of isolation, in the light of the daily suffering imposed on them, as the IPS practices all forms of abuse and torture against them.

The Commission revealed, according to its lawyer’s visit to Damoun Prison, a series of cruel measures, details of daily suffering and complicated living conditions, represented in separation from the outside world due to confiscating TVs and radios. Moreover, there is a shortage in females’ requirements and other necessities in order to cause psychological distress and affect their national and humanitarian status.

The report showed many aspects of the unlimited procedures pursued by the IPS against them, represented in depriving them of writing anything, as they do not provide papers and pens in prison’s sections. Furthermore, the duration of going to the prison’s courtyard is 40-60 minutes at its finest.
In a related context, the commission documented a cruel detention experience for detainee (H.S), who has been arrested after invading her house and causing a state of tension among her family members and children. They handcuffed and blindfolded her and moved her to interrogation center, where she was exposed to the most cruel curses, insults and severe beating. She remained there for two hours in a dirty stinky cell, then she was transferred to Damoun prison and exposed to additional hour of investigation before being brought to the section.

The Commission pointed out that the general situation of all detainees is extremely dangerous and worrying, and called on international organizations to save detainees’ lives and not leaving them as victims to these vindictive procedures, which increase day by day.

*Note: The Commission avoids sharing names of female detainees who have been visited to ensure not being punished.*

*Statement issued by the Commission of Detainees’ Affairs and the Palestinian Society Prisoner’s Club on following up the administrative detainees’ files in military courts after more than 7 months of the aggression*

Since the beginning of the massive aggression and constant genocide against our people, detention operations escalated in the West Bank, afflicting more than (8600) citizens of all categories, besides the transformation in the issue of administrative detainees, whose numbers increased and constituted the highest percentage historically, as the majority of those who were arrested after October 7 , were sentenced to administrative detention, including women, children, sick, wounded and elderly.

*Throughout 7 months of following up on thousands of files by the legal team, we confirm on the following:*

*First*: the military courts of the occupation, used its historical role after October 7 in consolidating the crime of administrative detention, and contributing to support the intelligence device to carry out more arrests, as military courts have been for many decades an integral part of the occupation’s tools to impose control over the Palestinians to undermine any role that may contribute to the Palestinian self-determination.

*Second*: we as institutions, confirm on our solid attitude since the beginning of war, that dealing with the occupation’s courts on its different levels, especially the case of administrative detention, is useless. Rather, it contributes to legitimize the unjust courts of the occupation. However, upon the request of detainees, in light of crimes, torture and abuse they are subjected to, and according to the desire of their families, who were deprived of visitation, we continued to follow up on files of administrative detainees in order to maintain communication between lawyers and detainees in the light of the restrictions imposed against them by the IPS.

*Third*: the Commission followed up on thousands of detainees in the phases of sentence confirmation and appeal, and recently the commission submitted petitions for administrative detainees to the supreme court of justice upon their request, despite of our historical experience which confirmed that the supreme court used as a platform to support its racist policies, have turned into a tool to implement the desires of settlers gangs. In this context, we confirm on our deep conviction in the uselessness of dealing with the supreme court of justice and all courts, noting that the court imposed additional restrictions on the follow up of administrative detainees files when detainees’ institutions started to submit petitions.

*Forth*: detainees’ institutions raised their voices throughout the past years in order to take a comprehensive national decision to gradually boycott the occupation’s courts, especially in following up the case of administrative detainees, as it has significant national dimensions on the fate of detainees’ cause. However, we are still looking forward to support our orientation on the national level to take this significant step.

*Fifth*: we assert to detainees families that we will continue our efforts to follow up the cases of your sons, despite the difficult challenges we face in the light of constant aggression and genocide.

He attended the visit handcuffed

Detainee Zakaria Zubaidi faces continuous penalties and difficult conditions in Ashkelon prison

May 6, 2024

The Commission of Detainees’ Affairs stated in a report issued today, according to advocate’s visit, that the isolated detainee Zakaria Zubaidi, from Jenin, is suffering from difficult detention conditions.

The Commission emphasized that Zubaidi, currently held in the cells of Ashkelon prison since three months, is subject to daily inspections by special units subordinate to the IPS, where he suffers from lack of clothes and only has the clothes he wears, and served with poor quality and quantity of food.

It is expected to transfer him next week from the isolation of Ashkelon prison to another isolation, as he is being exposed to the policy of retaliatory transfer every three months.

The Commission said that the occupation and the IPS should hold responsibility for the life of Zubaidi, against whom an extremist policy is practiced, which violates all international agreements and covenants.

The occupation force arrested Zubaidi in 2019, as he was able to escape from Jelboa prison by digging a tunnel, with five of his colleagues.

The occupation forces arrested them again and sentenced them to additional 5 years, and a fine of 5000 NIS, in addition to practicing deliberate torture against them, solitary confinement, medical ignorance and physical and psychological abuse.

Fares: The World Health Organization must act immediately to save the lives of sick detainees from medical crimes

May 12, 2024

The head of the Commission of Detainees’ Affairs, Qaddura Fares, called on the WHO and all medical associations to act immediately and practice pressure to visit sick detainees in Israeli prisons, against whom the IPS is practicing actual medical crimes, according to political decisions by Netanyahu and Ben Gvir.
Fares said: “ this silence doesn’t make sense, the world is watching these crimes which are committed in public, as the number of martyrs has increased remarkably and sick detainees are kept without medication, thus there will be a real catastrophe at any moment, which will lead to the martyrdom of sick detainees”.

He added “there are recurrent visits to sick detainees in the so-called Al-Ramla prison clinic, as their testimonies are serious and upsetting, and contradict all international norms and charters. All kinds of deprivation are imposed on them in the light of the incapacity and inadequacy of this place. This coincides with the absence of qualified medical personnel to deal with their cases, where this place deserves to be called a cemetery of alive humans “.

In this context, and according to the lawyer’s visit, Fares has been informed of the extent of crimes through the case of wounded detainee Saleh Hassounah, 27, from Jalazon refugee camp/ Ramallah, who is detained since two months and a half. The soldiers tried to assassinate him while being in his bed with his 6-months-daughter, as they shot him in his legs and beat him in front of his family.

Fares emphasized that Hassounah was shot from a zero distance which led to fragmentation in his right leg. He was transferred to Shaare Tsedeq Hospital and remained 52 dqys and had 6 surgeries, in which they implanted platinum in his leg. He needs many other surgeries but the Israeli authorities ignored this and transferred him to Ramla prison clinic. He is currently living with pain and suffering and only given painkillers.

*Commission of Detainees’ Affairs and the Palestinian Society Prisoner’s Club hold the occupation fully responsible for the destiny of leader detainee Ibrahim Hamed*

*Further terrible testimonies of liberated detainees after 7 months of aggression commencement*

Ramallah- The Commission of Detainees’ Affairs and the Palestinian Society Prisoner’s Club held the IPS fully responsible for the life and destiny of detainee Ibrahim Hamed, 59, from Silwad/ Ramallah, considering a primary testimony of a detainee who was liberated today from Jelboa prison, who stated that Hamed is subjected to terrible torture and abuse acts.

He also added: “Hamed got attacked yesterday in Jelboa prison and he has bruises and wounds all over his body. He was bleeding from the head and could not be able to move after the attack, hustling health conditions is very serious and I can’t describe the situation he is living. There is a real threat to his life due to the intense beat he was subjected to, besides to all detainees in Jelboa prison”.

This horrific details are among many testimonies documented by detainees’ institutions and detainees who were liberated after October 7, which reflected an unprecedented extent of brutality, which led to the martyrdom of 18 detainees in Israeli prisons and military camps, besides detainees from Gaza Strip who died but the Israeli occupation still refusing to reveal their identities.

The commission and the prisoner’s club pointed out that the IPS intended to target the leaders of Captive Movement since the beginning of war, through torture, isolation, transfer and constant abuse.

The commission and the prisoner’s club confirmed that the extent of brutality reflected in testimonies is an indicator for the martyrdom of many other detainees, and considering that what happened to the detainee Hamed is an actual assassination attempt, and stressed that time constitutes a crucial aspect to the fate of detainees, due to the grave nature of measures practiced by the IPS, such as torture and starvation.

Detainees’ institutions call on international human rights organizations to conduct independent international investigation on the escalation of crimes and genocide against our people in Gaza Strip and put an end to the unprecedented crimes committed against detainees in Israeli prisons.

The leader detainee Hussam Ruzzah was subjected to 4 assassination attempts since launching the war in Gaza

May 6, 2024

The Commission of Detainees’ Affairs stated that detainee Hussam Ruzzah, 67, from Nablus, leader in the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, was exposed to torture and humiliation four times in an attempt to kill him.

The advocate of the Commission, who visited Jelboa prison, confirmed that Ruzzah attended the visit leaning on a crutch and walking hard, as he suffers from intense pains , due to severe attacks by masked jailers and soldiers without taking into account his health conditions, which made him unable to walk alone.

He said: “the jailer cursed me and my sister without any reason or justification, so I replied to the insult. Suddenly, the commander officer came accompanied by 5 masked soldiers and took me out of the room, started to beat me for more than quarter-hour and then attacked me in a brutal manner. I couldn’t stand up due to severe pain and I suffer from walking difficulty until this day. They took the muscular corset as a means of punishment and left me without medication”.

He added: “the same officer came into my room with many soldiers in 5/4/2024, attacked me abruptly and beat me three times in the same day. They continued the series of torture in 30/4/2024, as they invaded my room and harassed me in front of my colleagues”.

It is worth noting that Ruzzah is a former detainee, who spent more than 18 years in Israeli prison, in which he conducted many hunger strikes, got isolated many times and sentenced to many sanctions. He got rearrested on October 2023, and sentenced to administrative detention.

Commission of Detainees’ Affairs:

Complicated living conditions and torture against detainees in Naqab prison

May 12, 2024

The Commission of Detainees’ Affairs revealed the living and detention conditions of Palestinian detainees held in Naqab prison, which are imposed on them according to the escalation policy pursued since October 7.

The Commission emphasized, according to its lawyer’s visit, that the IPS is still holding detainees in very narrow sections, where each room accommodates 10 detainees at least and 15 in some rooms. The IPS prevents detainees from praying and reading the Holy Qur’an as well.

The lawyer stated that detainees are exposed to intense beat, humiliation and ill-treatment, where they avoid going to the prison’s clinic for fear of being attacked.

Detainees informed the lawyer that the food tastes bad and served without sugar and salt, which caused weight loss due to malnutrition.

Among these inhumane practices imposed on detainees in Naqab prison, they got provided with water for only one hour to bathe, in the light of the lack of clothes and preventing them of changing since October 7. They also said that there are no windows in their rooms, which exposes them to skin diseases due to the lack of ventilation and sunlight. Moreover, the IPS cuts off the electricity from 7:00 pm- 6:00 am, and they are allowed to go to the prison’s courtyard for an hour each 10 days at its finest.

According to the lawyer, the following detainees were subjected to intense beat, abuse and humiliation:
. Usama Jabri, 23, from Nablus, detained since 2/5/2002, and lost 20 kilograms of his weight
. Detainee Ibrahim Shalhoub, detained since 25/6/2023
. Detainee Sami Radi Assi, detained since 15/10/2023, and has fractures in the chest
. Detainee Mahmoud Abu Usbaa, detained since 22/2/2011, suffers from problems in the urinary tract, allergy in the skin and toothache.

*Brief on detention campaigns carried out in the West Bank since October 7 until May 8, 2024*

*This brief includes only those who got arrested from the West Bank, while detainees from Gaza are still under forcible hide*

The total number of arrests stands at (8640) in the West Bank and Jerusalem.


. Women: the total number of women arrests stands at (290), including women arrested from the lands occupied in 1948, in addition to Gazan women who have been arrested in the West Bank.

. Children: the number of children arrests stands at (610).

. Journalists: (75) journalists have been arrested, (48) of them are still under arrest, (21) sentenced to administrative detention and (12) Gazan detainees under the forcible hide.

. More than (5900) orders of administrative detention have been issued since October 7, ranging between new orders and renewals, including orders against children and women.


Detention campaigns carried out since October 7 are accompanied by escalated crimes and violations such as humiliation, brutal beat, threats against detainees and their families, besides to vandalism and destruction in detainees’ houses, confiscating vehicles, gold and money, in addition to the destruction of infrastructure especially in the refugee camps of Tulkarem and Jenin.

Statistics include detainees who were arrested from their houses, on checkpoints, who surrendered themselves and those who were arrested as hostages.

Besides to detention campaigns, the Israeli forces implemented field executions, afflicted detainees and their family members.

. (18) detainees martyred in Israeli prisons and military camps since the 7th of October: (Omar Daraghmeh from Tubas, Arafat Hamdan from Ramallah, Majed Zaqqul from Gaza, the fourth martyr’s identity is unknown, Abdulrahman Maree from Salfit, Thaer Abu Assab from Qalqilia, Abdulrahman Bahsh from Nablus, Muhammad Sabbar from Hebron, Khaled Shawish from Tubas, Ezz Al-deen banna from Gaza, Assef Refae from Ramallah, Ahmad Qdaih and Jumaa Abu Ghnaimeh, Walid Daqqa, Abdulraheem Amer, Dr. Adnan Barsh, Ismail Khader) in addition to the wounded detainee Muhammad Abu Snaineh from Jerusalem, who martyred in Hadassa Hospital.

It is said that the corpses of (16) detainees who martyred after October 7 are still withheld, among (27) martyrs.
It is worth mentioning that the Israeli media revealed information that indicates the martyrdom of tens of detainees from Gaza in military camps, while the occupation authorities refused to reveal their identities. Moreover, they acknowledged the execution of many detainees.

*statistics on detention cases includes detainees who still under arrest and liberated ones*

Data does not include detention cases of Gaza, due to the occupation’s refusal to give any information and the continuation of practicing the crime of forcible hide against them. It is worth mentioning that the occupation forces arrested hundreds of Gazan workers in the West Bank, in addition to citizens from Gaza who were previously in the West Bank for medical treatment.

*Detainees’ Institutions ( Commission of Detainees’ Affairs, Palestinian Society Prisoner’s Club, Addameer Association for Human Rights )*

Sick detainees in Ramla prison between medical crimes and the mercy of heaven

May 4, 2024

It’s the exact description of sick detainees held at the so-called Ramla prison’s clinic, in which medical crimes, humiliation, torture and violations are committed. They only have to wait for the heaven’s mercy, and they will either survive with the help of fate or they will be included in list of occupation’s victims.

The advocate of the Commission, who visited the prison the day before yesterday, stated that sanctions imposed against detainees in general are also applied against sick detainees with some inhumane and unethical practices, as jailers take advantage of detainees’ diseases and injuries to place them in a complicated and hazardous environment, in which the is a real threat to their lives.

The commission emphasized “all occupational measures were imposed on them by the IPS after October 7, represented in handcuffing and blindfolding detainees on their way to meet the advocate and on their way back, without taking into consideration their health conditions, which forced detainees to take a decision not to meet the advocate or receive medical treatment.

Moreover, the IPS made a decision to halt the physiotherapy for wounded detainees and prevented the special food served for sick detainees who have diseases in stomach and the digestive system.
Furthermore, the IPS prevented detainees from using the pay phone, which was used to communicate with their families, and the rooms of sick detainees were turned into cells, which lack the minimum essentials of medical care”.

The Commission of Detainees’ Affairs revealed that the vast majority of sick detainees held at Ramla prison’s clinic are from Gaza Strip, who were arrested, shot and tortured by the Israeli soldiers.