Torture, starvation: This is what Israeli prisons inflict on Palestinians

In the wake of October 7, Israel’s treatment of Palestinian prisoners has descended to new depths of cruelty, amplifying the already brutal and inhumane practices inside Israeli occupation prisons.

For years, Palestinian detainees have faced torture, physical assault, and illegal detention at the hands of Israeli authorities. Now these repressive tactics have escalated in both intensity and frequency, with the number of inmates almost doubling from 5,192 before the start of the genocide to 9,623 by July this year.

The goal?

To strip Palestinian prisoners of their humanity and crush their resistance.

“There was no part of a prisoner's body that was off-limits,” reveals Nail Sameer Halabi, a recently released Palestinian who spent over a decade in various Israeli prisons.

His latest arrest was due to his student activism against the war in Gaza at Birzeit University in the occupied West Bank, where he studies. But other arrests were made under administrative detention, a law used to arrest Palestinians based on a secret file, where neither the prisoner nor their lawyer knows the charge.

The number of these arrests has surged, with thousands of Palestinians now detained indefinitely—an outright violation of international law.

In an exclusive interview with TRT World, Halabi recounts the severe beatings, humiliations, and daily torture that Palestinian prisoners endure.

“They would tie up the prisoners, beat them severely, and hurl insults at them and at the Palestinian cause.”

According to him, special units belonging to the Israeli Prison Administration, like "Metsada," "Yamam," and "Dror" would serve as repression forces, raiding prison wings armed with weapons, dogs, and sound bombs, leaving prisoners in a constant state of terror.

Sensitive parts of the body, including “the ribs, legs, and genitals, were deliberately targeted” during these physical assaults.

Torture and assault

Halabi was first arrested in 2004 aged just 17 for his activism during the Second Intifada. Held for four and a half years and shifted between prisons, he is now aged 37, has spent around 11 years imprisoned across a 20 year span.

During his time in Israeli detention centres like Al Maskobiya in West Jerusalem and Ashkelon’s Shikma prison, Halabi describes the relentless abuse faced by Palestinians under interrogation and imprisonment as nothing short of dehumanising.

His time in prison was marked by extensive interrogations and human rights violations, even before the events of October 7.

He recalls, "There was a collective situation that I can only describe as one of total dehumanisation. The prison administration, part of the Zionist occupation system, aims to strip us of our humanity and national identity."

Palestinian prisoners had to fight for the most basic rights, such as access to blankets, mattresses, and a few hours of fresh air in the yard.

"Hunger strikes were one of the key tools in our struggle," Halabi explains.

"The goal was to improve our living conditions and assert our dignity. We carried out dozens of hunger strikes, during which some prisoners were martyred." For some who survived, basic rights like access to medication and medical attention, and yard time were reinstated.

But since October 7, the situation inside the prisons has deteriorated even further. What was once a dire and brutal existence has become unbearable.

A brutal crackdown

For Halabi, October 7 was a turning point, not just for Palestinian prisoners but for the entire Palestinian cause, in other words; the ongoing struggle for self-determination, independence, and the establishment of a sovereign Palestinian state.

In response to the events that day, Israeli prison authorities unleashed a severe crackdown, stripping prisoners of what little they had.

All electronic devices—TVs, radios, hot plates—were confiscated, along with any personal clothing, leaving detainees with only the shirts on their backs and the pants on their legs.

Even basic undergarments were confiscated, and all food supplies, except for water, were removed.

Starvation and denial of basic needs

While Gaza starves, starvation has also become a weapon of repression inside the prisons.

Halabi recounts how the food rations were drastically reduced—small portions of labneh, bread, a single egg, and scant servings of rice or soup were shared between the inmates.

"This diet was insufficient even for a child, let alone grown men," he says. Consequently, many prisoners, including Halabi, lost as much as 40 kilograms during their imprisonment.

The aim of the Israeli authorities was clear: starve the prisoners into submission. "They wanted us to beg for food, to break our spirit," Halabi explains.

Regardless of the severe conditions, Halabi makes it clear that they have never lost faith in their struggle. “Despite the immense suffering, the prisoners' movement remained strong and united," he says.

Amid the growing violence in Gaza, Israeli prisons were flooded with record numbers of Palestinian detainees packed densely into small windowless cells. "We were crammed into cells meant for six to eight prisoners, but after October 7, that number surged to 20," Halabi explains.

Prisoners were forced to sleep on the floor without mattresses, with some having to step over each other just to reach the bathroom. "The lack of space and basic necessities made life in prison extremely difficult," he tells TRT World.

Systemic abuse

The horrors described by Halabi align with numerous reports from human rights organisations documenting the systemic abuse within Israel’s prisons.

According to another report by B’Tselem titled “Welcome to Hell,” the Israeli army has adopted a systemic policy of "institutionalised abuse,” including harassment, torture, and medical neglect against detained Palestinians.

The organisation’s investigation, based on interviews with 55 former prisoners from 16 detention centres, revealed the conditions of these "torture camps," with severe beatings, sexual violence, starvation, medical neglect, and the deprivation of basic necessities such as water, daylight, electricity, and sanitation, including soap and sanitary pads for women are daily occurrences.

The collective punishment inflicted on Palestinian prisoners mirrors the broader oppression experienced by Palestinians in the occupied territories.

These repressive measures are part of a calculated strategy to subjugate the Palestinian people, many argue, with the prisoners’ plight serving as a reflection of the broader campaign aimed at breaking their resistance and will to fight for freedom.