More than 9,600 Palestinians held in Israeli occupation prisons
OCCUPIED PALESTINE, April 15 (YPA) – The Palestinian Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs Commission reported that the total number of Palestinian and Arab prisoners in Israeli prisons reached over 9,600 as of the beginning of April 2026.
This came in a joint statement released on Tuesday by the Commission of Detainees’ and Ex-Detainees’ Affairs, the Palestinian Prisoner Society, and Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association.
According to the statement, the total number of Palestinian and Arab prisoners in Israeli custody has exceeded 9,600, amid ongoing arrest campaigns and deteriorating detention conditions.
It added that there are 86 female prisoners, including 25 held under administrative detention without charge, while around 350 children are held in Ofer and Megiddo prisons, in addition to two girls detained in Damon prison.
According to the statement, the number of child detainees under administrative detention reached around 180 by the end of 2025, while the total number of administrative detainees rose to more than 3,532, including women and children.
It also noted that 1,251 detainees are classified by Israel as “unlawful combatants,” according to Prison Service data, excluding those held in military-run camps.
Prisoner institutions warned of a serious deterioration in the health conditions of sick prisoners due to medical neglect, torture, and denial of treatment, noting an increase in such cases since the outbreak of the latest war.
The statement added that 326 prisoners have died in custody since 1967, including 89 who have died since the start of the war on Gaza in 2023, while the bodies of 97 prisoners are still being withheld, alongside ongoing enforced disappearance of dozens of detainees from Gaza.
Since October 8, 2023, Israeli occupation has escalated its measures against Palestinian prisoners, amid human rights reports that detainees have been subjected to torture, starvation, and medical neglect, leading to the deaths of several prisoners in custody.
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