Ramleh Prison & Clinic

Ramleh Prison:  This prison was established (as Ramleh Palace) in 1934 through an order by the British mandate over Palestine. After the occupation state was established in 1948, it converted Ramleh palace into a military center for the Israeli army. In 1953, a section of the palace was designated as a prison to incarcerate palestinians. After the Israeli occupation took over more Palestinian lands in 1967, the entire palace was converted into a central prison for both Jewish criminals and Palestinian prisoners, especially Palestinians from the Jerusalem area.

Palestinian prisoners and detainees at Ramleh are considered to be fore-runners in the use of open hunger strikes to escalate prisoners’ resistance. In 1968, prisoners at Ramleh announced an open strike with their main demand being an end to their physical abuse and moving them from the prison barracks where they were exposed to rain and sewage flow. By the middle of 1968, Palestinian prisoners had announced their second hunger strike to demand that prison authorities allow notebooks and pens in the cells. The strike was considered as success, since prison authorities agreed tothis demand.

Ramleh prison serves as a transit site of sorts between all other prisons; prisoners are usually transferred here from one prison before being moved to another. The site is a prison compound containing several prison structures:

1.Ramleh Prison Hospital: This is a section within the prison associated with the administration of the Israeli Prison Services with the stated purpose of treating prisoners, though it lacks basic and necessary medical equipment.

2.Ayalon Prison

3.Neve Tirza 

4.Nitzan Prison