Israel exacerbating suffering of Palestinian prisoners in Ofer prison ahead of winter, rights group warns

The Israel Prison Authority has escalated its inhumane treatment of Palestinian prisoners in the notorious Ofer Prison, in the north of occupied West Bank, depriving them of food, medicine and other essential materials since October 2023, a prisoner rights group revealed yesterday.

The Commission for Detainees and Ex-Detainees’ Affairs said yesterday its lawyer, who had visited the prison, reported that the prison administration is still depriving prisoners of blankets and winter clothes in sections 18 and 21, despite the severe cold and the onset of winter.

The prisoners told the lawyer that “food is scarce and bad, served without salt or sugar, while the prison guards seize everything from the cells including bedding, empty boxes, kitchen utensils, Qurans and prayer rugs.”

The lawyer said “the prison guards jammed his phone during the visit and at least five soldiers stood behind the door of the visiting room to disturb the prisoner and the lawyer.”

The prisoners were in a bad condition, because they had been assaulted before the visit and they remained handcuffed and blindfolded during the entire visit

he added.

The lawyer said he visited prisoner Osaid Hamed, 21, from the town of Silwad east of Ramallah, who was arrested on 30 October 2023, noting that he suffers from tooth and stomach pain, and is not receiving the necessary treatment.

Prisoner Muhammad Abu Sakout, 26, who was arrested on 8 September 2023, suffers from hemorrhoids, but refused to go to the Ramleh Prison clinic because prisoners are often tortured en route to the clinic and often return with additional illnesses and injuries, he explained.

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