Three prisoners face difficult health and humanitarian conditions in Ofer Prison

September 13, 2026

The Commission of Detainees’ Affairs reported deteriorating health and humanitarian conditions for three Palestinian prisoners held in Ofer Prison, including an elderly prisoner suffering from chronic illnesses and the effects of an assault he was subjected to during his arrest, according to statements by prisoners and testimonies from released detainees.

The Commission explained that Israeli occupation forces arrested prisoner Maher Rizq Abdul Nasan (60) from the village of Al-Mughayyir/ Ramallah, on July 6, 2026 at 1:00 p.m. He was arrested from inside his vehicle at a checkpoint in the Ain Sinya area. Contact with him was then lost for several hours, before it was later discovered that he had been detained.

According to testimonies from released prisoners who met with him, Nasan was subjected during his arrest to severe beatings and was detained for hours under the sun. Cigarettes were also extinguished on his body. His vehicle was confiscated for a week, while personal documents, identification cards, and land ownership documents that he had with him were also confiscated.

According to the Commission, Nasan suffers from chronic illnesses that have worsened as a result of detention conditions and medical neglect, including a herniated disc in the fourth vertebra. He had been scheduled to undergo surgery prior to his arrest. He also suffers from inflammation in a joint in one of his legs, colon problems, abdominal pain, as well as severe and persistent pain in his shoulder, back, and chest resulting from the assault during his arrest. The effects of the beatings remain visible on his body. His health condition is further aggravated by the fact that he receives no treatment and that the prison administration is deliberately neglecting his medical needs.

It should be noted that Nasan is a former brigadier general in the Preventive Security Service. He is currently serving the second month of a four-month administrative detention order. He is the father of three sons and four daughters.

In another testimony, the Commission stated that prisoner Rafiq Raed Rafiq Qabaj (23) from the city of Al-Bireh has been detained since February 12, 2026. A second administrative detention order has been issued against him, with each order lasting four months.

The Commission’s lawyer explained that Qabaj is a university student studying pharmacy and that his latest arrest is the third since the beginning of the war. He was previously arrested in August 2024 and released in October 2025 after serving his detention period in Gilboa Prison.

Qabaj has suffered from an elevated heart rate since before his arrest and requires medication to regulate it. He also suffers from scabies, which has spread throughout the entire section due to the lack of hygiene.

The Commission also reported that prisoner Ali Abd Eid Barghouthi, from the town of Beit Rima, northwest of Ramallah, has been detained since December 15, 2025. At the time the testimony was prepared, he had spent nine months in detention and does not suffer from any health conditions.

Barghouthi stated that prisoners are unable to change their clothes regularly and wash them during the recreation period without cleaning materials, due to insufficient quantities provided for all prisoners in the same room. There is also a shortage of underwear, which contributes to the spread of scabies.

He added that repression inside the section is repeatedly carried out at specific intervals through raids on rooms, searches, destroying prisoners’ belongings, and confiscation of some of their possessions. Meanwhile, the prison administration deliberately prevents prisoners from performing communal prayers and punishes those who lead the prayers.

The Commission called for urgent intervention to ensure that prisoners receive the necessary medical care, particularly sick and elderly prisoners, and to put an end to assaults and medical neglect. It also called for improving humanitarian conditions inside Israeli occupation prisons in a manner that guarantees prisoners’ rights in accordance with international and humanitarian rules and standards.