Ramallah: The number of Palestinian and Arab political prisoners in Israeli prisons has surged to over 9,600 individuals, marking an 83% increase from pre-genocide numbers, which stood at 5,250, as noted by prisoners' associations.
According to Palestine News and Information Agency - WAFA, the Palestinian Prisoner's Society, Commission of Detainees' Affairs, and Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association highlighted in a report that there are currently 86 female prisoners, including two minors under the age of 18, and two women detained before the genocide. Of these, 25 women are being held under 'administrative detention' without trial or charge.
The report indicates that around 350 minors are detained, primarily in Ofer and Megiddo prisons, and by the end of 2025, 180 children had been held under 'administrative detention.' The term 'administrative detainees' refers to Palestinians arrested from the occupied West Bank and held without trial or charge under a military order. Their numbers have risen significantly to more than 3,532 detainees, including women and children, showing a 168% increase from the 1,320 individuals held under this military order before the genocide began.
Most of these administrative detainees are former prisoners and include students, journalists, lawyers, engineers, doctors, academics, parliamentarians, activists, workers, and relatives of prisoners or martyrs. The associations further revealed that under the 'Unlawful Combatants Law,' 1,251 Palestinians from the occupied Gaza Strip are held without trial or charge, excluding those in military camps.
The report highlights that about 50% of all Palestinian political prisoners are detained without trial or charge. The number of sick prisoners has seen a significant increase, with the majority suffering from illnesses either pre-existing or developed due to the harsh and unsanitary detention conditions, torture, and lack of medical care.
It was noted that since the occupation began in 1967, 326 Palestinians have died inside the prison system, including 89 since the start of the genocide in Gaza. This number only includes identified individuals, with dozens from Gaza still forcibly disappeared. The report concludes that the occupation authorities have increased the withholding of slain Palestinian prisoners' bodies to 97, marking an over 781% increase from the pre-genocide period, when eleven bodies were withheld.