49 Palestinian women endure systematic abuse in Israeli prisons

October 26 marks Palestinian Women’s Day, highlighting the female detainees who face systematic crimes in Israeli prisons.

According to WAFA, the Palestinian Prisoners Club stated that Israeli authorities continue to detain 49 Palestinian women, including two young girls and one woman from the Gaza Strip. These prisoners remain exposed to organized and targeted crimes inside Israeli detention centers and interrogation facilities.

In a statement on Sunday for Palestinian Women’s Day, the club said: “The pace of these crimes has reached unprecedented levels since the start of the Gaza war, the bloodiest period in the history of the Palestinian people, and their impact continues to deeply affect the reality of female prisoners.”

The Palestinian Prisoners Club added that the post-Gaza war period has brought fundamental changes to the detention conditions of female prisoners, accompanied by a series of crimes committed by Israel’s repressive system.

The most notable of these crimes include torture, starvation, deliberate medical neglect, and sexual assault—particularly body searches and harassment documented in several cases by female prison guards.

In addition, psychological terrorism such as threats of sexual assault, systematic oppression, repeated raids involving physical beatings, humiliation, and forcing female prisoners to kneel while handcuffed—along with insults that violate their human dignity—are ongoing.

According to the female prisoners, these violations also include psychological torture methods applied from the very first moments of arrest.

In June of this year, the Palestinian Prisoners Media Office reported that since October 7, 2023 (15 Mehr 1402), when the war against Gaza began, at least 545 Palestinian women have been detained in Israeli prisons; this figure does not include those abducted from Gaza during this period.

Many of the charges against these women remain unclear, and some are held under administrative detention. Human rights groups say Israel uses women as hostages to exert pressure.

The Palestinian Prisoners Studies Center announced in March that Israel has intensified its aggressive policies against female Palestinian prisoners and called on the international community to break its silence and take action against these crimes.

A non-Palestinian human rights organization also reported that Israeli authorities systematically harass Palestinians in camps established in occupied Jerusalem after the start of the Gaza war, exposing them to severe violence and sexual abuse.