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Prisoners Affairs Authority: IOF evacuates Block 24 of Ofer Prison

Palestinian prisoners suffer from the deadly policy of coercive conditions in Israeli occupation prisons, which include beatings and abuse, as well as the deprivation of water, food and electricity.

  • Prisoners Affairs Authority: IOF evacuates Block 24 of Ofer Prison
    A picture from Sde Teiman shows Palestinian prisoners held in cages and inhumane conditions. (Social media)

The Palestinian Commission for Prisoners' Affairs has exposed the appalling conditions faced by Palestinian prisoners in Israeli occupation prisons following visits by lawyers to several inmates in Ofer Prison.

The Commission confirmed that Block 24 in Ofer Prison has been completely evacuated and a large number of administrative prisoners have been transferred to other prisons. The transfer process is ongoing.

The prisoners reported that they were beaten and mistreated on several occasions, even while visiting their lawyers. In addition, all prisoners suffer from significant weight loss due to the starvation policy.

Prisoner Mahmoud al-Hajj: Physical abuse in Israeli occupation prisons

In a separate statement, the commission reported that Mahmoud Al-Hajj, a 22-year-old detainee, was brutally beaten with sticks on his back by guards and interrogators at the Maskobiya interrogation center. After the attack, al-Hajj was taken to the prison clinic and then to a detention cell, where he was handcuffed to a bed and deprived of food, water and toilet access for 40 hours.

The Commission also warned of the possibility of further crimes against Al-Hajj and called on human rights organisations to exert all possible pressure to secure his release from Maskobiya and prevent further abuses.

Prisoners face increasing risks

The Commission's lawyer explained that conditions in Israeli occupation prisons remain harsh and complicated. Prisoners suffer from acute shortages of food and water. The Israeli authorities have turned drinking water into a punitive measure, providing them with only 45 minutes of water a day and deliberately contaminating it with dirt and high concentrations of chlorine.

In addition, Israeli authorities cut off electricity to the prisoners, leaving them in the dark from 10 p.m. until noon the next day. Conditions have deteriorated even further since October 7.

The Commission's lawyers visited four prisoners in Ofer Prison and reported on their testimonies. The prisoners included Khaleel Qandeel (28), Fawzi Salama (24), Fadi Shahada (21) and Bahaa' Eddin Arouj (17), who was prevented by the Israeli occupation authorities from taking his high school diploma.

On August 4, the Commission reported painful testimonies from Palestinian prisoners from Gaza held in Ofer Prison. These prisoners described severe abuses, including stripping, shackling, blindfolding, beatings and torture. They compared their ordeal to being hunted by “wild animals” who delight in their suffering, hunger, thirst and illness, and expressed disbelief that they are still alive.

Last month, the authority's lawyer revealed that the cells in Ofer prison are small, unventilated rooms with iron beds but no mattresses, pillows or blankets. Each cell houses about 25 inmates, some of whom sleep on the iron beds and others on the floor. The inmates receive only 100 grams of bread or tomatoes and a bag of yogurt per meal, and eat with their hands tied.

Since the outbreak of war in Gaza on October 7, Israel has escalated abuses against Palestinian prisoners in its prisons to unprecedented levels. Human rights reports and numerous testimonies have highlighted the horrific conditions faced by prisoners, particularly those from Gaza.

Read more: Released Palestinians report increasing abuse in Israeli prisons

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