The Palestinian Prisoners’ Society (PPS) has reported that the number of Palestinians held in Israeli prisons has climbed to more than 9,300 as of the beginning of February 2026, a level the organization describes as unprecedented in recent years. The figures draw on PPS documentation, partner institutions, and data released by the Israeli Prison Service.
According to the report, the detainee population includes 56 women, among them two girls, alongside roughly 350 children held in Megiddo and Ofer prisons.
The PPS notes that the number of detained minors has continued to rise amid intensified Israeli military invasions across towns, refugee camps, and villages throughout the occupied West Bank.
One of the most striking trends in the new data is the sharp increase in arbitrary Administrative Detention, which has reached 3,358 detainees. PPS says this is now the largest single category of imprisonment.
Under these orders, Palestinians are held without charge or trial on the basis of undisclosed “evidence,” with orders that can be renewed repeatedly. Neither the detainees nor their lawyers have access to the alleged evidence.
PPS describes the current scale of administrative detention as a deliberate policy tool used to suppress political activity and impose broad pressure on Palestinian communities.
The report also documents 1,249 detainees classified by Israel as “unlawful combatants.” PPS stresses that this figure does not include the majority of Palestinians from Gaza who remain held in Israeli military camps and bases under the same designation.
Those detainees are kept outside the regular prison system, without access to lawyers or independent monitoring bodies.
The “unlawful combatant” label also applies to detainees from Lebanon and Syria, reflecting Israel’s use of the classification beyond the Palestinian context.
PPS reiterates that thousands of Palestinians from Gaza remain forcibly disappeared in military camps, where no official data is released and no outside organizations are allowed to visit.
The Society warns that the absence of transparency means the real number of detainees from Gaza is significantly higher than what is publicly acknowledged.
The organization links the overall rise in detainee numbers to sweeping arrest campaigns carried out during Israeli military invasions across the West Bank. These include mass detentions at military roadblocks, home invasions, and large‑scale invasions across the occupied territory.
PPS says the abductions have targeted a wide range of people — children, women, journalists, workers, and former detainees.
PPS urged international bodies to intervene, particularly to halt the widespread use of Administrative Detention and to secure access to detainees from Gaza. The Society says the current situation demands sustained pressure to ensure Israel complies with international humanitarian and human rights law.
