Haaretz: Palestinian Prisoners Tortured through Dehydration in Israeli Prisons

Haaretz, citing human rights organizations, has revealed that during the Gaza war, Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli prisons were subjected to deprivation of drinking water and harsher detention conditions; measures described as collective punishment and retaliatory actions.

The newspaper reported that following the outbreak of hostilities on October 7, under orders from Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israel’s Minister of Public Security, the detention conditions for all Palestinian prisoners were severely tightened regardless of the time or place of their arrest. These policies included serious restrictions on access to water, intensified surveillance, and reductions in basic living facilities.

According to the report, about 90 percent of prisoners are held in spaces smaller than three square meters and are deprived of beds for rest. There have also been widespread instances of ongoing violence by prison guards, lack of adequate healthcare services, and denial of access to fair trials; issues that human rights bodies have deemed clear violations of fundamental human rights principles.

Organizations monitoring the affairs of Palestinian prisoners have stated that due to the expansion of arbitrary arrests, nearly half of the Palestinian detainees are held in prison without charge or trial. According to published statistics, the total number of Palestinian prisoners has exceeded 9,300, with approximately 49 percent imprisoned without due legal process.

Details of these statistics indicate that 3,350 individuals are held under so-called “administrative detention,” and another 1,220, mostly detainees from the Gaza Strip, are labeled as “illegal combatants.” Administrative detention is issued under military orders and can be extended for years, with prisoners and their lawyers denied access to so-called secret evidence.

The report emphasizes that the prison conditions in 2025 indicate the continuation of systematic violence against Palestinian prisoners, turning detention centers into environments for systematic torture. The deaths of 32 Palestinian prisoners in the same year are viewed as a sign of unprecedented deterioration of conditions and increased pressures on the prisoners’ movement.