Israeli authorities have moved Palestinian journalist and detainee Bushra al-Tawil, 33, to solitary confinement at Ramla prison, nearly six months after her arrest and transfer to administrative detention, the Palestinian Prisoner Society said on Monday.
The group said al-Tawil, from the occupied West Bank city of Al-Bireh, was arrested in February and later placed under administrative detention. She had previously been detained several times, most of them under the same procedure, it added.
Al-Tawil was first detained in 2011 when she was 18, according to the society. Her father, Jamal al-Tawil, also remains in an Israeli prison and is among Palestinian detainees who have spent extended periods under administrative detention.
The society said the family has faced repeated raids and harassment, including deliberate damage to their home during the arrests of Bushra and her father.
Al-Tawil had also been placed in solitary confinement several times during her current detention at Damon prison, the group said, describing the latest transfer as part of a broader pattern of punitive measures against her.
The transfer comes amid worsening conditions for Palestinian women held in Israeli prisons, including food deprivation, denial of medical care, solitary confinement, and poor detention conditions. It also said scabies had spread among female detainees amid inadequate hygiene and health care.
About 90 Palestinian women are currently held in Israeli prisons, according to the society.
‘Unprecedented level of brutality and disrespect’
The group said al-Tawil’s transfer followed a visit on Sunday by far-right Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir to the women’s section of Damon prison. Ben-Gvir posted footage from the visit “in a scene that embodies an unprecedented level of brutality and disrespect for the dignity and rights of female prisoners,” the society said.
The society accused Israeli authorities of subjecting female detainees to systematic raids, filming, and invasive searches, including forced strip searches.
It said solitary confinement, denial of medical treatment, food deprivation, and harsh detention conditions form part of policies imposed on Palestinian prisoners since Israel launched its genocidal war on Gaza in October 2023.
The group described Israeli prisons as having become “grounds for torture as one of the most prominent aspects of the ongoing crime of genocide” and held Israel fully responsible for the safety of al-Tawil and other Palestinian female detainees.
It called on international and human rights groups to work urgently to halt the violations and protect the prisoners.
About 9,500 Palestinians are held in Israeli prisons, including around 90 women and more than 350 children, who face food deprivation, torture, and medical neglect, according to Palestinian and Israeli rights groups.
