Abdullah Al‑Zaghari, head of the Palestinian Prisoners’ Society (PPS), said Tuesday that Israel continues to hold more than 9,400 Palestinian and Arab detainees in its prisons and military camps under conditions he described as increasingly abusive and life‑threatening.
He said more than one hundred detainees have died since the start of the war, with the identities of 89 confirmed to date.
In a statement issued on the eve of Eid al‑Adha, Al‑Zaghari said political prisoners are subjected to some of the harshest conditions in years, including systematic starvation, torture, humiliation, and sexual violence, alongside large‑scale repression campaigns that have escalated sharply since the beginning of the war.
He added that Israeli authorities continue to bar families from visiting their detained relatives, severing their connection to the outside world, and deepening their psychological isolation.
Hundreds of detainees, he noted, have been unable to share family milestones for years, while some have spent more than four decades behind bars. Many have lost parents or children without being permitted a final farewell.
Al‑Zaghari also stated that these policies of deprivation have intensified since the war, accompanied by severe restrictions on legal visits, further compounding the isolation of political prisoners.
He said Israel is currently holding around 360 children, including three girls, as well as 84 women, many of them mothers who were seized from their homes and families, leaving their children without care or protection.
Al‑Zaghari described the situation of Gaza detainees and thousands of missing Palestinians as among the most painful and unresolved issues, with testimonies from recently released detainees revealing what he called “unimaginable levels of torture and abuse.”
He added that 3,376 Palestinians are held under Administrative Detention without charge or trial, including women and children, in addition to 1,283 detainees who are currently classified by Israel as “unlawful combatants,” noting that the policy has expanded to its most dangerous levels since the start of the genocide.
