Report: Palestinian prisoners ‘starving and dreaming of food’ in Israeli jails

The Israeli newspaper Haaretz has reported that Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails continue to suffer acute hunger, with one detainee telling his lawyer that inmates are “starving and dreaming of food”.

In a report published on Tuesday, the paper said that almost three months after Israel’s Supreme Court ordered the Prison Service to provide prisoners with adequate and appropriate food, testimonies from inside the facilities indicate that conditions have not improved.

The report cited statements from detainees who said food quantities had not increased, and in some cases had been reduced. One lawyer, who recently visited 53 prisoners across several facilities, said the meals were “insufficient and of poor quality,” adding that many detainees complained of persistent hunger.

According to the testimonies, several prisoners reported being given expired food since 7 October 2023.

The lawyer said he had met an administrative detainee in Ketziot Prison who weighed 130 kilogrammes at the time of his arrest but now weighs around 60 kilogrammes.

As of 1 November, the number of prisoners and detainees in Israeli jails exceeded 9,250, the majority held under administrative detention. According to the Israeli Prison Service, there are 1,242 convicted prisoners, 49 female prisoners—including one from Gaza—and 350 children. Administrative detainees number 3,368.