Since Itamar Ben-Gvir, the far-right head of the Jewish Power party, assumed the role of Israel’s Minister of Internal Security in December 2022, Palestinian prisoners have faced increasingly dire conditions. Between January 2023 and June 2025, at least 110 detainees have lost their lives in Israeli jails, marking a record high and highlighting a dramatic deterioration in prison conditions.

Accounts from former prisoners reveal extreme overcrowding, severe malnutrition, deliberate food deprivation, and unsanitary living conditions. Many have been subjected to physical abuse, systemic oppression, and long periods of isolation. Reports indicate that nearly 60 percent of prisoners suffer from chronic illnesses, with some dying in custody or shortly after release due to untreated health complications.

Protests by prisoners, including extended hunger strikes, have repeatedly sought to draw attention to their unlawful detention and the extreme suffering endured. Human rights monitors stress that these practices violate international law, including the Fourth Geneva Convention, and constitute part of a wider pattern of oppression that has intensified since the genocidal war on Gaza began on 7 October 2023.