MORE than 9,400 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails are marking Eid al-Adha under suffocating restrictions, dire conditions, and an unprecedented rise in abuse and deprivation.
The Palestine Centre for Prisoner Studies said that, three years ago, Eid was a joyful occasion for detainees, when they wore their best clothes, decorated rooms with scraps of fabric and coloured paper, and made sweets with limited means, in an effort to spread happiness and affirm their resilience.
Since October 7th, 2023, however, happy occasions have turned into tools of torture and mistreatment. This Eid is the sixth under the occupation government’s policy, which the Centre described as aiming to kill prisoners both spiritually and physically.
Prisoners are facing Eid deprived of family visits for nearly three years, where visits are described as a ‘lifeline,’ especially during holidays. The suspension of visits has caused severe shortages of clothing and blankets, as families used to bring these items along with food. The closure of prison canteens has worsened the lack of essentials.
The Centre reported ongoing abuse campaigns: prisoners are shackled, thrown to the ground for hours, beaten, and sprayed with gas, without medical care for the injured. Mattresses and blankets are confiscated from morning until late at night.
Female prisoners also face systematic repression, including beatings, insults, gas attacks, and solitary confinement, alongside hunger policies, denial of visits, and overcrowded cells.
The Israeli prison service enforces starvation to weaken prisoners’ bodies and increase illness, while denying treatment and healthcare, turning minor conditions into serious diseases. Scabies has spread widely, infecting thousands; nearly a quarter of all prisoners are affected, with some suffering for months from boils, ulcers, and infections.
The Centre has renewed its call for international institutions to intervene to protect prisoners, ease their suffering, and curb Israeli violations, especially during holidays.
Israel continues to hold more than 9,400 prisoners in prisons and detention camps, including 86 women and 3,376 administrative detainees. The Israeli authorities also classify 1,283 prisoners as ‘unlawful combatants’ under exceptional legal frameworks used to entrench arbitrary detention and enforced disappearance of Palestinians.
Israeli brutality is not just against prisoners, Israel has also intensified its attacks on the Palestinians living in Gaza.
A Palestinian girl was pronounced dead yesterday after succumbing to wounds sustained in an Israeli strike on Khan Younis a day earlier, while Israeli warplanes last night bombed a neighbourhood in al-Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza.
Local sources reported that 15-year-old Fatima al-Khatib died of her injuries after an Israeli strike targeted the Gheith displacement camp in the al-Mawasi area of Khan Younis on Monday.
Meanwhile, Block 5 of the Nuseirat refugee camp saw widespread destruction after heavy Israeli bombardment flattened an entire residential square.
The Palestinian Information Centre (PIC) reporter said that the strikes resulted in the complete destruction of several homes and severe damage to others.
The Government Media Office (GMO) in Gaza warned on Monday of an unprecedented escalation in the humanitarian catastrophe in the Gaza Strip ahead of Eid al-Adha, amid the ongoing Israeli blockade and restrictions on the entry of sacrificial animals and essential aid, worsening the suffering of more than 2.4 million Palestinians living under extremely harsh conditions.
In a statement, the GMO said Gaza is facing a severe and growing shortage of basic food supplies alongside a major collapse in food security due to restrictions on goods entering the Strip and the disruption of humanitarian and commercial supply flows.
The statement noted that only 1,196 trucks had entered Gaza over the past week out of an expected 4,200 trucks, representing a compliance rate of just 28.4%, which is insufficient to address the growing humanitarian, food, and medical needs.
The UK, US and EU trade unions must now take general strike action to stop the ongoing brutal starvation of the Palestinian people and to assist in the establishment of the State of Palestine with Jerusalem as its capital. There is no doubt that this is the time to establish the state of Palestine from the river to the sea!
