Gaza, 29 March 2025 — During Ramadan, Palestinian prisoners and detainees held in Al-Naqab Prison—also known as Ketziot Prison—faced a sharp escalation in rights violations by the Israeli Prison Service (IPS). Despite severe access restrictions, an Al Mezan lawyer was able to visit the prison on 27 March 2025, unveiling disturbing patterns of abuses, including starvation, medical neglect, and restrictions on lawyers’ visits, all intensifying during the holy month.

Detainees reported that the IPS systematically denied them suhoor—the pre-dawn meal essential for those observing the fast during Ramadan—throughout the month. They were given only one inadequate iftar meal each day—the evening meal that breaks the daily fast—which lacked sufficient quantity and essential nutrients. As a result, prisoners experienced muscle wasting, drastic weight loss, and severe fatigue. Many also suffered from untreated skin conditions, exacerbated by the persistent denial of medical care, despite repeated pleas for treatment. Furthermore, detainees described ongoing mistreatment, including torture during interrogations, throughout their detention, and during prison transfers, and continued restrictions on access to legal counsel.

Israeli authorities continue to detain more than 9,400 Palestinians in degrading and inhumane conditions, subjecting them to unprecedented levels of torture that have resulted in the deaths of more than 35 Palestinians in Israeli custody from torture alone, while tens of others have died from systematic medical neglect. Access to legal counsel is also systematically denied by Israeli authorities. Under the Unlawful Combatants Law, Palestinians can be prevented from meeting with a lawyer for up to 75 days, while Israel’s Criminal Procedure Law allows this period to be extended to 120 days. Recent amendments to Israeli legislation have further eroded detainees’ basic legal protections, in clear violation of international law.

Al Mezan strongly condemns Israel’s continued violations against Palestinian prisoners and detainees, which constitute grave breaches of international humanitarian and human rights law. The systematic use of torture, inhumane treatment, and intentional infliction of severe pain or suffering constitutes a war crime under Article 8 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court and a serious violation of Article 147 of the Fourth Geneva Convention. Additionally, the denial of legal counsel flagrantly violates Article 14 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which guarantees the right to a fair trial. The harsh and degrading detention conditions further breach the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (the Nelson Mandela Rules).

Al Mezan calls for immediate international intervention to halt Israel’s systematic crimes against Palestinian detainees. We call on the international community to take decisive action to ensure accountability and end Israel’s impunity, which enables continued atrocities. The failure to act allows Israel to persist in these grave violations while Palestinian detainees suffer and die in plain sight of the world.