NAGHAM KARAJEH

Gaza- Although the number of Palestinian women held in Israel prisons is unknown, it is known that their number has increased since the start of Operation Al-Aqsa Flood launched by Hamas on October 7, 2023. Palestinians held in Israeli prisons face harsh punishments, restrictions, all forms of violence, torture, ill- treatment, insults, strip search, threats. The Palestinian prisoners often start hunger strikes to protest the inhuman practices against them.

 “Palestinian female prisoners have been resisting in Israeli prisons for a long time. We support their resistance against rights violations,” the Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network said in one of its statements on poor conditions of Palestinian women in Israeli prisons. “We struggle to make the voices of prisoners heard internationally. Supporting Palestinian prisoners is supporting the land and the people of Palestine.”

Mothers, sisters, wives arrested

“Since October 7, 2023, the Israeli forces have intensified their mass arrest campaign targeting Palestinian women and girls everywhere,” said Ghazal al-Natour, member of the Palestinian Prisoners' Club. “The Israeli forces arrest women, including mothers, sisters and wives to target their family members to surrender themselves.”

Most of the arrested Palestinians have been held in Damon prison, which was opened in 1953 as a camp for detaining Palestinian prisoners. After being shut down in 2000, the prison was reopened after Operation Al-Aqsa Flood. “Recently, the arrest campaign has targeted women in IDPs camps and their number is unknown because they are taken to unknown locations,” Ghazal al-Natour stressed.

‘She was threatened with rape’

Ghazal al-Natour told NuJINHA the story of a Palestinian woman, who was arrested by the Israeli forces as follows:

“A woman, who was arrested in a camp, told me what she had experienced after being arrested. One of the Israeli soldiers beat and insulted her in custody. She was blindfolded and her headscarf was removed and all her clothes were taken off. She was questioned until they reached the detention center. She was not given food and water for a week. She was threatened with rape. Women, of course, do not tell everything in detail because they are afraid of being stigmatized. Since October 7, 2023, women in Israeli prisons face harsh punishments, restrictions, all forms of violence, torture, ill- treatment, insults, strip search, and threats.”

Call on the international community

Israel violates international conventions and commits crimes against humanity, Ghazal al-Natour stressed, adding, “We call on the international community to put pressure on Israel to stop violating the international law and human rights conventions, including the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.”