Addameer

World Press Freedom Day: Israel Has Carried Out at Least 180 Arrests of Palestinian Journalists Since Start of Gaza Genocide

addameer — Sat, 03 May 2025 08:04:38 +0000

World Press Freedom Day: Israel Has Carried Out at Least 180 Arrests of Palestinian Journalists Since Start of Gaza Genocide

addameer Sat, 05/03/2025 - 11:04

03-05-2025

Commission of Detainees’ Affairs, Palestinian Prisoner’s Society, & Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association

Ramallah, Palestine - Israeli occupation forces have carried out at least 180 arrests among Palestinian journalists both in the West Bank and Gaza since the start of the genocide in October 2023, Palestinian prisoner defense groups said on the occasion of World Press Freedom Day marked annually on May 3.

Among the 180 arrests, 49 Palestinian journalists who were detained after the genocide began remain behind bars, in addition to six others who were arrested beforehand.

This period has been the deadliest in the history of Palestinian journalism. The Israeli occupation targets Palestinian journalists in a systematic policy of killings and arrests. According to the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate, more than 200 journalists have been killed since the start of the genocide.

The targeting of Palestinian journalists—whether through assassinations or arrests—has historically been one of the main policies employed by the occupation, and it has escalated to an unprecedented level since the genocide began. The attacks on journalists have marked a critical and painful chapter in the history of Palestinian journalism, especially in Gaza. The occupation has not only targeted them while doing their journalistic work but has also systematically targeted their families. Many journalists and their families have been killed during the genocide as part of the occupation's retaliatory efforts. Families have been turned into targets and tools of intimidation and revenge in a continuous attempt to silence journalists and assassinate the truth and details of the genocide in Gaza.

Prisoner groups noted that the occupation continues to forcibly disappear Palestinian journalists Nidal Al-Wahidi and Haitham Abdel Wahid who were abducted from Gaza. Since October 7, the occupation has refused to reveal their fate - whether they are alive or not - despite efforts by numerous human rights organizations and ongoing demands for information. It is known that the occupation employed enforced disappearance broadly against detainees from Gaza. This persisted until certain legal amendments allowed the disclosure of detainees’ whereabouts in prisons and camps, but the practice has not stopped — with many detainees from Gaza remain forcibly disappeared.

Among the 49 detained journalists, 19 are being held under the so-called “administrative detention” policy without trial or charge. This policy has affected thousands of Palestinians in an ongoing attempt to impose greater control and censorship, depriving them of their right to freedom of opinion and expression, and preventing them from exposing the occupation’s crimes that permeate every aspect of Palestinian life. Many journalists have been subject to administrative detention — some have been released, while others remain imprisoned. One such case is journalist Nidal Abu Aker from Bethlehem, who has spent nearly 20 years in occupation prisons, most of it under administrative detention.

The occupation has transformed social media platforms and journalistic work from tools of free expression into tools of repression and pretexts for arrest, under the guise of so-called “incitement.” The occupation deliberately crafted vague definitions of “incitement and sympathy” without clear parameters, enabling it to use them as weapons against journalists in particular, and Palestinians in general, to imprison them on a mass scale.

Detained journalists face all the violations endured by other prisoners, including systematic torture, severe beatings, starvation, medical neglect, and continuous humiliation and abuse. They are held under harsh and degrading detention conditions and are continuously deprived of their rights.

Prisoner institutions renew their demands for the immediate release of detained journalists in Israeli prisons and for the disclosure of the fate of Gaza’s disappeared journalists. They also call on the United Nations and all international bodies to assume their responsibilities regarding the crimes committed by the occupation against detainees, and to move beyond merely issuing reports and statements by ending the systematic inaction in the face of the ongoing genocide and aggression.

● International Workers’ Day: Palestinian Labor Workers Targeted by Israeli Occupation

addameer — Thu, 01 May 2025 14:13:15 +0000

● *International Workers’ Day: Palestinian Labor Workers Targeted by Israeli Occupation*

addameer Thu, 05/01/2025 - 17:13

01-05-2025

May 1, 2025

Ramallah, Palestine - On the occasion of International Workers' Day, which falls on May 1 of each year, Palestinian prisoner defense groups highlight how the Israeli occupation has targeted Palestinian workers for decades, and that arrests and persecution constitute the most prominent oppressive policies pursued against them.

This is in addition to the fact that a large portion of the Palestinian prisoners who fought for the freedom of their land and people are from the working class. Over the decades, the occupation has furthered its policies to target them, deprive them of their rights, and impose increased control and oversight over their right to work and life.

The Commission of Detainees’ Affairs, the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society, and the Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association confirmed in a statement that since the beginning of the ongoing genocide, the occupation has escalated its targeting of workers and their persecution through arrests. The issue of Palestinian workers has become one of the most prominent and pressing matters, given the escalation of systematic crimes and violations against them, including arrests, persecution, and torture.

Thousands of Palestinian workers from across Palestine have been subjected to mass arrests and systematic crimes, as part of a policy of collective revenge that the occupation has escalated in an unprecedented manner, compared to previous periods when Palestine witnessed widespread popular uprisings against the Israeli occupation. We recall here the case of Gaza workers, thousands of whom were arrested after October 7 while working in the territories occupied in 1948. They were detained in harsh and oppressive conditions and subjected to systematic torture without trial or charge before the majority were later released. Several of these workers were martyred, while the occupation continues to impose the crime of enforced disappearance on others and refuses to disclose their fate.

The occupation has escalated its persecution and arrests of workers for entering the territories occupied in 1948 without permits, including in occupied Jerusalem. These arrests have been accompanied by various forms of assault and detention in harsh and difficult conditions. This is taking place amidst escalating policies of systematic oppression against our people, the isolation of governorates and towns from one another, the continued expansion of settlements, and the theft of Palestinian funds.

Prisoners' institutions renew their demand to all international human rights bodies at all levels to open an independent international investigation in light of the continued escalation of crimes and the war of genocide against our people in Gaza. They must work to put an end to the escalating and unprecedented crimes against prisoners in Israeli occupation prisons, and to restore the true and necessary role of human rights in the face of the brutality of the occupation, supported by international forces that ignore the entire human and humanitarian community and all the voices of free people in the world.

Palestinian Prisoner Groups Issue Urgent Appeal to World Health Organization (WHO) Over Health Crisis in Israeli Prisons*

addameer — Wed, 30 Apr 2025 08:34:01 +0000

Palestinian Prisoner Groups Issue Urgent Appeal to World Health Organization (WHO) Over Health Crisis in Israeli Prisons*

addameer Wed, 04/30/2025 - 11:34

30-04-2025

Issued by Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association, the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society, and the Commission of Detainees’ Affairs.

April 30, 2025

Ramallah, Palestine – As Palestinian prisoner defense and advocacy groups, we have sent an urgent appeal to Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), calling for immediate international intervention into the horrific health conditions for Palestinian political prisoners held in the Israeli occupation’s prisons which are leading to an unprecedented rate of deaths in custody.

The appeal highlighted the outbreak of a number of diseases including scabies skin disease and amoebic infections, chronic diarrhea, continuous vomiting, in addition to other serious skin diseases. Child detainees are also exhibiting symptoms of undiagnosed and untreated dermatological illnesses.

All detainees are being denied their right to medical care, and the prison administration refuses to treat the root cause of these illnesses, which is the inhumane and unhygienic detention conditions inside the prisons.

This intentional medical neglect constitutes part of the escalating medical crimes that have been practiced against Palestinian detainees since the start of the genocide in October 2023. The institutions emphasized that every prisoner visited by legal teams suffers from at least one health issue, reflecting the extent of the disaster.

The appeal to the Director-General states: "This is not just a public health emergency — it is a humanitarian catastrophe," noting the martyrdom of at least 65 Palestinian prisoners since the genocide, including a 17-year-old child who was killed through starvation and subsequent diseases. The appeal also noted that diseases have spread across various prisons — particularly in the Naqab, Megiddo, Gilboa, and Ofer prisons.

The institutions urged the WHO to exert immediate pressure on the Israeli occupation authorities to comply with international health standards and the Geneva Conventions, and to ensure the provision of necessary medications and urgent medical care — including transfers to external hospitals for critical cases. They also called for independent international medical oversight inside Israeli prisons and for holding occupation authorities accountable for their ongoing violations and crimes against Palestinian detainees.

"The deliberate denial of healthcare and hygienic necessities constitutes cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment,” the appeal reads. "The international community — especially the World Health Organization — must act immediately to save the lives of thousands of prisoners in the occupation’s prisons."

Zain Al-Din Issa Thawabteh

addameer — Sun, 20 Apr 2025 07:24:01 +0000

Zain Al-Din Issa Thawabteh

addameer Sun, 04/20/2025 - 10:24

Name: Zain Al-Din Issa Thawabteh

Date of Birth: 5/7/2009

Age: 16 years old

Residence: Bethlehem – Beit Fajjar

Marital Status: Single

Date of Arrest: 25/9/2024

Occupation: 10th grade student

Prison: Megiddo (Juvenile Section)

Legal Status: Administrative Detention

The arrest:

On September 25, 2024, Zain Al-Din’s mother was sitting at home with her husband when they heard that special forces were present at the entrance of the town and had arrested some children. The last thing she expected was that her son, Zain Al-Din, would be among them. When Yazan, Zain Al-Din’s older brother, entered the house, he informed her that people from the village had seen the special forces arresting Zain Al-Din and his friend Abdullah after assaulting them.

Yazan immediately called Abdullah’s phone, and an Israeli army officer answered, telling him that both Zain Al-Din and Abdullah were detained and that there was no need to inquire further—they were with the army. A few days later, the family learned that Zain Al-Din was being held in Megiddo Prison under administrative detention.

Administrative detention is a crime committed against children:

On September 26, 2024, the military commander of the area issued an administrative detention order against the child Zain Al-Din Thawabteh for a period of four months, starting from September 26, 2024, and ending on January 24, 2025. The order was later renewed for another four months, set to expire on May 23, 2025. After that, the order could either be renewed again or he could be released.

During the most recent confirmation session for the second order, held on January 26, 2025, at the Ofer Military Court, the hearing was divided into two parts. In the public session, the judge claimed that although the detainee, Zain Al-Din, has no organizational affiliation and no prior security record, he is suspected of promoting popular resistance activity, and thus poses a threat to the security of the area—a vague accusation commonly cited in thousands of administrative detention orders issued against Palestinians.

The second part of the session was based on a secret file submitted by the military prosecution to the judge, who then decided not to disclose the contents or sources of this “classified information,” citing concerns for regional security. The judge confirmed his full alignment with the prosecution’s request by approving the full duration of the detention order, thereby denying both the detainee and his lawyer access to the evidence and stripping the child of his right to defend himself in a fair and public trial.

This affirms that the occupation systematically uses administrative detention as a tool of collective punishment targeting all segments of Palestinian society—including children. This group, in particular, has not been spared from arrest policies and the accompanying brutality and abuse from the moment of detention. These practices severely impact children’s psychological and social development during a critical stage of life, with long-term effects on the formation of their personalities.

The arrest of children is a targeting of childhood and a deprivation of a dignified life...

With Zain Al-Din’s arrest, the laughter disappeared from the house—this is how his mother began her words when we asked her how his detention affected the family. She added that this is the first time anyone in their family has been arrested, and it has deeply impacted the atmosphere of their home and their daily lives.

Zain Al-Din, as his mother describes him, was the voice and laughter of the house. In his absence, that voice is gone, and so is the joy. He is the third of his siblings, preceded by his older brother Yazan, 22 years old, and his sister Aisha, 20 years old. He is followed by his twin brothers Jad and Jude, both 11 years old.

Despite his age, Zain Al-Din has a unique and influential personality—cheerful, kind to everyone, strong-willed, respectful, and responsible. He took great care of his younger brothers and sister, often playing with them and bringing them candy and sweets. His absence is felt not only by his family but by the entire town of Beit Fajjar.

His mother and the rest of the family now live through the pain of forced separation and the agony of waiting for a postponed freedom—because under administrative detention, there is no known release date.

This pain is accompanied by constant fear and anxiety, especially under the harsh conditions that Palestinian prisoners—men, women, and children—are currently facing in Israeli prisons. As soon as a family member is arrested, the entire family loses the right to communicate with them due to the ban on prison visits since October 2023. The only possible communication is through lawyer visits, which are themselves often obstructed or canceled by the prison authorities under various pretexts, or through other prisoners who have been released and had been detained alongside the arrested individual.

Zain Al-Din’s mother says, “We follow the news with constant worry, afraid that something bad might happen to him.” The family learned through a lawyer’s visit that Zain Al-Din is suffering from scabies and has not received any medical treatment or care. This, in itself, puts the family in a state of ongoing distress. They monitor the news to find out which children have been released from Megiddo Prison—where Zain Al-Din is held—in order to contact them and check on his wellbeing.

In recent weeks, they managed to learn about Zain Al-Din through released children who were detained with him. These children consistently report the harsh and degrading conditions they endured, conditions that fail to acknowledge that they are minors. Despite this, they resist through solidarity. One child described how, during violent raids by special units into their rooms, the children shield one another to reduce the severity of the beatings.

“These words alone are enough to break you,” Zain Al-Din’s mother says, describing the deep emotional toll this has taken on the entire family. The whole household ends up paying the price for this arbitrary and unjust arrest.

Today, as a result of his detention, the child Zain Al-Din is living in a place that is both dark and unjust—instead of living in freedom, playing with his friends, and sitting in a classroom like children anywhere else in the world. He is a tenth-grade student, and with his arrest, he is at risk of losing his academic year.

His mother explains that the first semester of the school year has already ended, and now the second semester is nearing its end. If his administrative detention order is renewed, he will be deprived of completing his school year, which would negatively impact his academic future and set him back compared to his peers.

This shows that administrative detention of children is not just about imprisonment—it is an assault on the lives of an entire generation, hindering their personal and educational development. This, in turn, affects the growth and progress of the society as a whole. It is no coincidence that such a vital group for the development of human societies is deliberately targeted by the occupation in an effort to destroy its social fabric and distort the awareness of its youth.

Last Update

20-04-2025

Addameer launches an urgent appeal to the people of the world to boycott and isolate the illegal Israeli occupation.

addameer — Thu, 17 Apr 2025 12:32:49 +0000

Addameer launches an urgent appeal to the people of the world to boycott and isolate the illegal Israeli occupation.

addameer Thu, 04/17/2025 - 15:32

17-04-2025

On Palestinian Prisoners Day

Addameer launches an urgent appeal to the people of the world to boycott and isolate the illegal Israeli occupation.

Under the title "Palestinian Prisoners Under Genocide", Addameer for Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association is launching the activities of Palestinian Prisoners’ Day 2025 to highlight and expose the horrific crimes being committed against Palestinian prisoners and detainees.

Since the beginning of the genocidal war against the Palestinian people, the Israeli occupation authorities have carried out widespread arrest campaigns targeting various segments of the Palestinian population. In a year and a half, more than 15,800 Palestinians have been arrested, including 500 women, 1200 children, and thousands of detainees who were placed under arbitrary administrative detention.

At the same time, from the very first day of the genocidal war, the Israeli prison authorities have targeted Palestinian prisoners inside the prisons. This has involved violent raids on prisoners' cells by special units of the prison administration, severe beatings, torture, and ill-treatment. Prisoners have also been subjected to power and water cuts, and all of their belongings—including clothes, electrical appliances, and hygiene items—have been confiscated. Furthermore, they have been placed under complete isolation, family visits have been completely banned, and the International Committee of the Red Cross has been prevented from visiting them inside prisons.

Additionally, a policy of starvation has been implemented against thousands of prisoners, who are being provided with only two extremely poor-quality and quantity meals a day.

All these crimes, along with systematic medical neglect, have led to the deaths of 64 Palestinian prisoners while in detention, including a 17-year-old child—the first minor to be killed in prison since the beginning of the occupation. This number includes only those prisoners whose identities are known, in addition to dozens of detainees from the Gaza Strip who were killed in custody, whose names and circumstances of death have yet to be disclosed.

On Palestinian Prisoners’ Day, thousands of Palestinian detainees continue to endure acts of genocide behind prison walls—subjected to relentless physical, psychological, and sexual torture in an environment entirely devoid of accountability or justice. Disturbingly, Israeli authorities have not only permitted such abuses but have normalized them in the public sphere. Soldiers have circulated videos depicting the torture and humiliation of Palestinian prisoners, while senior officials have openly encouraged these practices through public statements issued since the onset of the genocide on October 7, 2023—all in full view of the international community, yet without any legal or moral consequences for the perpetrators.

On Palestinian Prisoners’ Day, we emphasize that the issue of Palestinian prisoners is a fundamental cause in the struggle for liberation from occupation. Full justice for the Palestinian people cannot be achieved without the release of all Palestinian prisoners and detainees held in occupation prisons, without an end to the arrest of Palestinians for exercising their right to self-determination, and without the dismantling of the Israeli military judicial system, which has been arbitrarily prosecuting Palestinians for 58 years.

Today, we demand the free people of the world, in solidarity with Palestinian prisoners and detainees, to raise their voices loudly to stop the genocide being committed against the Palestinian people and to halt the crimes being perpetrated against Palestinian prisoners. We call on unions, student bodies, youth movements, and human rights organizations across the globe to mobilize urgently to put pressure on the illegal Israeli occupation to end its crimes against the Palestinian people, and to pressure your honorable governments to cut all ties with this occupation, which stands accused of committing genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity.

It is crucial that you impose an economic, cultural, and academic boycott on this occupation. You must pressure your governments to stop the export of weapons to a regime that uses them—supported by your governments and funded by your tax money—to commit horrific crimes against Palestinians. The time for action is now—no more complicity.

The time has come to reject and isolate this illegal Israeli occupation. The time has come to confront this Israeli occupation, impose sanctions on it, and prevent it from continuing the genocide of the Palestinian people, and to hold Israeli war criminals accountable—from the lowest-ranking soldier in the occupation army to the highest levels of political and military leadership.

The time has come to pressure your governments to arrest Israeli war criminals who have had arrest warrants issued against them by the International Criminal Court. The era of impunity must come to an end—and the era of full justice for the Palestinian people, and for the prisoners and detainees who have spent years behind bars unjustly, must begin.

Justice will only be achieved when the last Palestinian detainee is freed, when the system of arbitrary detention is dismantled, and when those who endured years of imprisonment are fully compensated for the crimes inflicted upon them by an illegal, unlawful, and inhumane occupation.

If you stay silent today about the crimes being committed against Palestinians, don’t be surprised when similar injustices reach your doorstep. No one is immune to the dangers of illegal occupation, apartheid, and genocide. Injustice left unchallenged in one place sets a dangerous precedent for the degradation of human rights everywhere.

The era of impunity must end. The era of justice must begin.

To the people of the world: This is your moment.
Stand on the right side of history.
Stand for freedom.
Stand with Palestinian prisoners.

أعداد الأسرى والأسيرات في سجون الاحتلال حتى نهاية شهر آذار -

addameer — Mon, 14 Apr 2025 07:36:32 +0000

أعداد الأسرى والأسيرات في سجون الاحتلال حتى نهاية شهر آذار -

Total Number of Political Prisoners

9 900

addameer Mon, 04/14/2025 - 10:36

Administrative Detainees

3 498

Child prisoners

400

Female prisoners

1948 Territories prisoners

200

Jerusalem prisoners

465

Palestinian Legislative Council members

Prisoners before Oslo

Prisoners serving life sentences

299

Date of Statistics

14-04-2025

Number of arrests Oct7

16500

Palestinian Children Behind Bars Annual Palestinian Child’s Day Report April 5, 2025

addameer — Sat, 05 Apr 2025 10:52:07 +0000

Palestinian Children Behind Bars Annual Palestinian Child’s Day Report April 5, 2025

addameer Sat, 04/05/2025 - 13:52

05-04-2025

Report prepared by the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society (PPS), Commission of Detainees’ Affairs & Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association

Ramallah, Palestine - At least 350 Palestinian children are currently being held by the Israeli occupation in various central prisons and military camps across the country, including more than 100 of them who are incarcerated without trial or charge under Israel’s unlawful military court system.

On the occasion of the Palestinian Child’s Day marked annually on April 5, Palestinian political prisoners’ legal defense and advocacy groups issue this report highlighting key facts and figures surrounding the children held in difficult conditions behind Israeli bars amid the most violent period yet in the Palestinian people’s struggle against the occupation.

Like the rest of the thousands of political prisoners held by the occupation, Palestinian children face a wide array of abuses and rights violations including torture, starvation, deprivation of medical care and systematic maltreatment. These policies lead to the killing of the first child detainee since the start of the genocide in Gaza in October 2023. The minor, 17-year-old Walid Ahmad from the town of Silwad near Ramallah in the central occupied West Bank, was martyred in Israel’s Megiddo prison on March 22, 2025.

In parallel with Israel’s significantly increasing mass arrests since the genocide, children have not been spared. No less than 1,200 cases of arrests among children in the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem have been recorded since October 2023. As for Gaza, Israeli authorities have blocked the ability of Palestinian lawyers and prisoner groups from gaining access to information on the number of cases of arrest among children as well as the number who remain in custody with many subject to the severe crime of enforced disappearance.

Over the past few months, legal teams of prisoner groups have been able to carry out visits to many child detainees in the Israeli prisons of Ofer, Megiddo, and Damon, despite the heavy restrictions imposed on lawyer visits. During these visits, dozens of testimonies were collected from the children, reflecting the level of brutality they are subjected to.

They have been enduring an unprecedented level and scale of abuse behind bars. Severe physical assault by Israeli occupation guards is one of the most prominent abuses taking place inside prisons, including through sudden, violent raids on their cells by specialized prison units leaving many of them wounded. Statistics and documented testimonies indicate that the majority of the children arrested are subject to one or more forms of physical and psychological torture, through a range of systematic methods that violate enshrined protection laws, international standards and child rights agreements.

Additionally, there have been cases of executions of Palestinian children during their arrest as well as documentation of cases where occupation soldiers used children as hostages to pressure family members into surrendering. There are also instances where the occupation’s intelligence services summon the families of the children, forcing them to bring their children for military interrogations. Dozens of children are also being subject to mass field interrogations.

The abuse of Palestinian children begins from the moment of their arrests in the late hours of the night, where dozens of heavily armed soldiers raid Palestinian homes in a violent manner and cause intentional vandalism and destruction before the arrest, terrorizing the child and their entire family.

Many of these children are injured or ill, and during their arrests, occupation soldiers use humiliating and degrading methods that violate their dignity. The majority of them are held in detention centers belonging to the occupation army under tragic conditions, with threats, insults, severe beatings, and deprivation of food and access to restrooms for long hours. This is done in an attempt to pressure them into making confessions. Children are also coerced into signing documents written in Hebrew which they do not read or understand. In addition, dozens of sick and wounded children have been denied medical treatment by prison authorities, including those suffering from chronic and serious diseases and various levels of injuries.

Starvation of Child Detainees

The crime of starvation, which is being perpetrated against prisoners, including children, has taken center stage in testimonies collected after the war on Gaza. Hunger looms over the child prisoners’ sections in an unprecedented manner, to the point where many of them are being forced to fast for days. What the prison administration refers to as meals are, in fact, mere scraps of food. While prisoners have, for decades, established certain standards within the sections with the help of adult prisoner supervisors, this system has effectively ceased to exist. The prison administration now exclusively controls the children, with no oversight as to what happens to them. The care that prisoners had attempted to establish through sacrifice was dismantled by the prison administration, just like all the previous conditions of prison life prior to the genocide.

Walid Ahmed, a 17-year-old child, was arrested from his family home in Silwad on September 30, 2024. During the months he spent in Megiddo prison, he faced systematic crimes, the most notable of which was the crime of starvation, which led to his martyrdom on March 22, 2025. Walid had suffered from scabies (the skin disease) for several months and was subjected to denial of medical care alongside intentional starvation, being completely deprived of treatment until his death. According to the post-mortem medical report of his autopsy, the primary cause of death was starvation.

Dozens of Children Contracted Scabies in Megiddo Prison and Were Denied Treatment

In recent months, child detainees have been suffering from skin diseases, most notably scabies, which has become a health disaster across several central prisons. The occupation has effectively used this disease as a tool to torture prisoners, including child detainees, by depriving them of treatment and of the necessary tools to eradicate the disease. The prison administration deliberately failed to take any measures to limit the spread of the diseases, which can be life-threatening if left untreated.

According to numerous legal team reports, many prisoners, including children, who went for visits had their bodies covered in sores and complained of being unable to sleep due to the intense itching they continuously endure. Despite some efforts by prisoner organizations to pressure the prison administration to provide the necessary tools to prevent the spread of the disease, particularly by ensuring an acceptable level of hygiene, the disease continues to spread widely among the prisoners, leading to the martyrdom of some prisoners in the past months due to the physical complications that arose from this disease.

Over 100 Children Held Without Trial or Charge

Israel’s military court system allows for the detention of Palestinian children without trial or charge under a “secret file” which neither the detainee nor the lawyer have access to in what is referred to as “administrative detention.” Since the genocide, the occupation’s practice of using this pretext to detain and incarcerate Palestinians, including children, has reached unprecedented levels. The number of Palestinians held under administrative detention as a whole reached 3,498 by early April 2025. Among them, there are over 100 children, including some under the age of 15, being held in administrative detention. These figures have never been recorded historically, even during the peak of confrontations in the most prominent uprisings against the occupation.

Occupation’s Military Courts: Part of the Brutality Against Children

The occupation relentlessly continues its crimes against Palestinian children, subjecting them to unjust military trials that lack the fundamental guarantees of due process, just as with all Palestinian political prisoners under Israeli detention. These sham trials serve as a tool for further oppression, where the rights of Palestinian children are systematically violated. Israeli military courts in the West Bank and the occupation courts in Jerusalem have become central instruments in this widespread abuse.

A particularly alarming and inhumane practice is the imposition of house arrest, which has become a prevalent tactic against Palestinian children, especially in occupied Jerusalem. This policy effectively transforms their homes into prisons, confining children to their residences under harsh conditions. The occupation authorities impose house arrest in a manner that isolates these children from their communities, education, and essential support networks, further exacerbating their suffering and denying them the most basic rights afforded to children under international law.

Call for International Action

Palestinian prisoners’ institutions persist in urging the international human rights system to take decisive action to hold the leaders of the occupation accountable for the war crimes they continue to commit against our people. They demand the imposition of comprehensive sanctions on the occupation to isolate it on the global stage, thereby restoring the international human rights system to its rightful role in upholding justice and human dignity. This is essential to break the paralyzing inaction that has allowed the ongoing genocide and aggression to persist unchecked. The institutions also call for the immediate end to the exceptional immunity granted to the occupying state, which has consistently evaded accountability, judgment, and punishment for its systematic violations of international law. It is time to hold the occupation to account and ensure that its impunity comes to an end.

- ENDS.

Over 200 South African and Palestinian Human Rights Organisations Urge South Africa to Return to the International Court of Justice for Provisional Measures

addameer — Fri, 28 Mar 2025 19:20:30 +0000

Over 200 South African and Palestinian Human Rights Organisations Urge South Africa to Return to the International Court of Justice for Provisional Measures

Our 211 members of the South African organisations, the Palestinian Human Rights Organisations Council (PHROC), and the Palestinian Non-Governmental Organisations Network (PNGO) applaud the commitment of South Africa who has, and continues to be, a staunch supporter and protector of the fundamental rights and interests of Palestinians. It has seized the opportunity to fight for these rights before the International Court of Justice (ICJ), yet sadly the situation continues to deteriorate. In the early hours of 18 March 2025, Israel resumed its deadly onslaught on the Gaza Strip by killing over 404 Palestinians, including hundreds of women and children across Beit Lahia, Rafah, Nuseirat and Al-Mawasi. The Court may modify an existing Order on provision measures if, in its opinion, some change in the situation justifies such revocation or modification.^{^[1]} The Court’s discretion in this regard means it is “inherently competent under this provision to interpret, and thus to specify (or clarify), the measures it has previously indicated to ensure the sound administration of justice”.^{^[2]} This suggests that “some change in situation”, as required by Article 76, may also consist of subsequent developments anticipated by the Court but which raise concerns as to the applicability of existing Provisional Measures Orders (PMOs)

addameer Fri, 03/28/2025 - 22:20

Slider Image

Link

https://www.addameer.org/news/5533

Date

Friday, March 28, 2025 - 12:00

Over 200 South African and Palestinian Human Rights Organisations Urge South Africa to Return to the International Court of Justice for Provisional Measures

addameer — Fri, 28 Mar 2025 19:14:19 +0000

Over 200 South African and Palestinian Human Rights Organisations Urge South Africa to Return to the International Court of Justice for Provisional Measures

addameer Fri, 03/28/2025 - 22:14

28-03-2025

PMOs Press Release South Africa.pdf

Unfolding situation in Gaza

Despite a ceasefire being announced on 15 January 2025, and allegedly coming into effect on 19 January 2025, the genocide against Palestinians in Gaza did not end. Under the terms of the fragile agreement, the entry of large and sufficient quantities of humanitarian aid and relief materials and fuel (600 trucks per day) intended to enable the removal of rubble and rehabilitate hospitals, bakeries, kitchens and health centres in all areas of the Gaza Strip was to be allowed unimpeded access. This should have continued throughout all stages of the agreement. Not only did Israel fail to allow sufficient aid to Gaza, since 2 March 2025 Israel has re-imposed a total blockade on all humanitarian aid - in manifest breach of the provisional measures already ordered by the Court.

Just days prior to this total blockade, the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), the Israeli army unit responsible for administering the military occupation, unveiled a plan for establishing “humanitarian hubs” in Gaza. Under the plan, COGAT will dictate the distribution of urgently needed humanitarian aid to “vetted Palestinians” only, in areas under the full control of the Israeli Occupying Forces (IOF), which will expand over time, annexing the Palestinian territory. All crossings in and out of Gaza will be permanently closed under the plan, with only the Karem Abu Salem crossing permitted for the entry of humanitarian aid.

Furthermore, since the Knesset legislation formally took effect on 30 January 2025, the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) and the largest distributor of aid and direct service provider in Gaza responsible for education, health and other basic services to millions of Palestinian refugees across the region, can no longer rotate international staff in and out of Gaza or have any contact with Israeli officials to coordinate its activities. At the same time, Israel has enacted new rules to limit the activities of humanitarian organisations requiring new registration criterion which will prevent the operations of humanitarian organisation whose staff have supported or endorsed operations considered hostile to Israel, including supporting boycotts or questioning Israel’s definition as a Jewish democratic State. Mr. Muhannad Hadi, Humanitarian Coordinator for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), has clearly explained:

Humanitarian aid in Gaza is a lifeline for over two million Palestinians who have endured unimaginable conditions for many months. A sustained supply of aid is indispensable to their survival.

Despite this stark warning, Israel has maintained its complete blockade of life-saving aid, basic commodities and commercial goods into Gaza.

Over one million people risk being left without food parcels in March, if supplies are not allowed into Gaza. The Southern Gaza Desalination Plant - the only facility that received electricity since November 2024, which was repaired between 3 and 6 of March - is now no longer functional after Israel cut its electrical feed on 9 March, limiting access to clean water for 600,000 people. Israel has even rejected a request for approval to conduct repair works on the Mekerot Bani Said waterline, located in the buffer and “no-go” zones. The temporary solid waste dump sites are reaching full capacity, while the landfill sites at Sofa and Johr al Dik remain inaccessible. With the closure of crossings for incoming cargo for almost three consecutive weeks, UN agencies warn that life-saving health equipment, including 20 ventilators for neonatal intensive care units and nine portable newborn incubators, alongside other aid supplies, are stalled at the border. UNICEF Middle East and North Africa Regional Director, Edouard Beigbeder, has alerted the international community to the fact that:

Without aid entering the Gaza Strip, roughly 1 million children are living without the very basics they need to survive – yet again… Tragically, approximately 4,000 newborns are currently unable to access essential lifesaving care due to the major impact on medical facilities in the Gaza Strip. Every day without these ventilators, lives are lost, especially among vulnerable, premature newborns in the northern Gaza Strip.

On 18 March for 19, the Israeli army issued evacuation orders for neighbourhoods in North Gaza and eastern Khan Younis, affecting an estimated 30,000 and 35,000 people, respectively –– and three primary health care (PHC) facilities and one field hospital ––within the evacuated area. Additionally, within 1 kilometre of these areas, there are four Primary Health Care facilities, two hospitals, one field hospital, and four medical points.

Shelter needs are critically high, with shelter stocks rapidly dwindling and infants now dying from hypothermia due to a lack of supplies capable of protecting them and their families from the harsh weather. Families are living in damaged and structurally unsafe buildings or structures that are at risk of collapse. Israel has consistently denied the entry of heavy machinery capable of clearing away the mounds of rubble, and this debris is now obstructing access and further complicating the delivery of aid to those most in need. The devastating situation is exacerbated by the fact that UN OCHA has only received a shocking 4 percent of the funding needed for its humanitarian response. This is not even enough to get through this quarter.

Against this backdrop, Israel’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has announced that Israel has resumed “intense fighting” in “full force”. Noting that its bombing campaign, which killed and injured over 1,000 Palestinians in just a couple of hours, “is just the beginning”. Prime Minister Netanyahu stated that negotiations “will continue only under fire”. This is echoed by Israel’s Minister of Defence, Israel Katz, who told reporters that “the gates of hell will open and it will face the full might of the IDF in the air, at sea and on land”.

A change in the situation & requests pursuant to Articles 41, 75 and 76:

These horrific developments mark a notable change in the situation since provisional measures were last indicated, and follow another overwhelmingly passed UN General Assembly resolution on 11 December 2024 which repeats, inter alia, previous demands for an immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire in Gaza and that Israel allow UNRWA to proceed with its aid operations without restriction.^{^[4]} These calls, just like the Court’s previous Orders on provisional measures, continue to go ignored.

Since the Court’s Order of 24 May 2024, Palestinians in Gaza have been subjected to a further seven months of unrelenting bombardment, forced displacement, starvation and erasure before the brief ceasefire that was violated by Israel hundreds of times in its 42-day existence. Israel has continued to attack Palestinians in the West Bank carrying out further acts in breach of the Genocide Convention. The Order of 24 May 2024 was motivated by the situation unfolding in Rafah, which at the time was effectively the last refuge in Gaza for 1.5 million Palestinians, and its control of all exit and entry points of aid into Gaza, which it had placed under full blockade. The total blockade has been reinstated, with all crossings closed and crucial aid left to rot and expire at the border. Rafah has been reduced to rubble.

South Africa can request Provisional Measures should the situation entail a risk of irreparable prejudice to the plausible rights claimed by South Africa and whether there exists an element of urgency.^{^[5]} As you recall, in its decision communicated to the Parties in a letter dated 16 February 2024, the Court highlighted that the catastrophic living conditions of the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip had continued to deteriorate since January 2024, especially as a result of the prolonged and widespread deprivation of food and other basic necessities.^{^[6]} In its Order of 24 May, the Court noted the same foreseeable development and characterised the humanitarian situation as “disastrous”.^{^[7]} Based on the notion of exceptional gravity Judge Aurescu pointed out that subsequent cases can draw from the finding that: “[A] change in the degree or the aggravation of an already existing situation, even though predicted, can justify the need for the Court to issue new or modify the already indicated provisional measures”.^{^[8]}

This view is shared by Judge Tladi, who also supported the Court’s finding that an “intensification” – which may be conceived as merely a continuation of the same military operation – was sufficient to justify issuing an additional Order on provisional measures.^{^[9]} As Judge Tladi drew attention to in his Declaration, this finding is wholly consistent with the Court’s ruling in Bosnia and Herzegovina v. Yugoslavia. In this case, which also centred on the Genocide Convention, the Court found that “the grave risk” underlined in its first PMO “has been deepened by the persistence of conflicts on the territory of Bosnia-Herzegovina and the commission of heinous acts in the course of those conflicts” which provided sufficient evidence of “some change in the situation”.^{^[10]} Bosnia and Herzegovina’s request was also based on the “continuing… campaign of genocide”, referring to the “rapidly escalating human catastrophe”.^{^[11]}

South African organisations, PHROC and PNGO Urge that South Africa Return to the ICJ for the Following Requested Measures:

That Israel immediately cease its military operations in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank and withdraw its forces: A new Provisional Measures Application should require Israel to take all necessary and effective steps to implement with immediate effect the Security Council resolution 2728 (2024), including a “lasting sustainable ceasefire”.^{^[12]} Judge Aurescu rightly notes an array of benefits to this: it would constitute an innovation in the Court’s jurisprudence; it would underscore the complementary functions of the Security Council and the Court in maintaining international peace and security, as already discussed above in the context of Judge Nolte’s Declaration; and it would extend the binding, legal force of provisional measures indicated by the Court to the relevant provisions of the Security Council resolution – “thus inaugurating new, promising cooperation avenues between the two principal organs of the United Nations”.^{^[13]}
Take all effective measures to ensure and facilitate the unimpeded access to Gaza of UN and other officials engaged in the provision of humanitarian aid and assistance to the population of Gaza, and the unimpeded entry of all reconstruction materials and equipment;
For Israel to stop receiving arms from Third States for use in genocidal acts against the Palestinian group;
Ensure the unimpeded entry of fact-finding missions, internationally mandated bodies and/or officials investigators, and journalists, in order to assess and record conditions on the ground in Gaza and enable the effective preservation and retention of evidence;
Ensure the return of all Palestinian refugees, and the return of Palestinian prisoners deported during the ceasefire;
That Israel revokes all discriminatory legislation against UNRWA, international aid organisations, media and human rights organisations operating in the Palestinian territory;
Ensure the release of all detainees from Gaza and their immediate return to Gaza;
Request that Israel submits an open report to the Court on all measures taken to give effect to these orders within one week of their issuance; and submit a report on all measures taken to give effect to all previous provisional measures indicated by the Court within one month, with continued reporting and monitoring.^{^[14]}

South African Organizations

Africa4Palestine (AFP)
African Legal Students Association and Justice Chapter (ALSA JC)
African Migration Organisation
African National Congress
Botshabelo Unemployed Movement
Centre for Social Change (Johannesburg)
Co-Create Communications
Cooperative and Policy Alternative Centre (COPAC)
Eastern Cape Palestine Solidarity
Economic Freedom Fighters
Educators for Humanity
Extinction Rebellion - Gauteng (XR Gauteng)
Gauteng Housing Crisis Committee
Goringhaicona Khoi Khoin Indigenous Traditional Council
Green Hope Foundation SA
Harnessing Rights Initiative: Advocacy for Global Gender Justice
Healthcare Workers 4 Palestine
Human Rights Institute of South Africa (HURISA)
Informal Settlements Committee
In Transformation Initiative
Ismalic Medical Association of South Africa
Keep Left - Socialism from Below
Kensington Palestinian Solidarity Group
Kopanang Africa Against Exnophobia (KAAX)
# KZN PalArt
Lawyers for Human Rights
Leratong Advice Centre
Media Review Network
Mining Affected Communities United in Action (MACUA)
Mohadin Civic Association
Muslim Student's Association - NorthWest University
Ndifuna Ukwazi (Cape Town)
Nehawu
Nelson Mandela University
Palestine Solidarity Alliance Youth League (PSA YL)
Palestine Solidarity Campaign
Palestine Solidarity Campaign - Cape Town
#PayTheGrants
Phoenix Zululand
Potch for Palestine
Potch Muslim Congregation
Potch Muslim Women's Forum
Richtersveld Intergrated Development Agency
SA Jews for Free Palestine
Salt River Heritage Society (Cape Town)
Serapeng sa Ditlhare & Environmental NPC
Sisonke Revolutionary Movement
Sharp Ecosocialist Collective
Social Intifada Solidarity Action Committee's Collective
Solidarity Group for Peace and Justice (SGPJ)
South African BDS Coalition
South African Chapter, Anti Apartheid Movement
South African Lawyers for Justice (SAL4J)
South African litigation Centre
South Africa Palestine Movement
Stilfontein Solidarity Committee
The Active Citizens Movement (ACM)
The Association of Muslim Accountants and Lawyers of South Africa (AMAL)
The KwaSulu-Natal Palestine Solidarity Forum (KZN Palestine Solidarity Forum)
The Legal Resources Centre
The National Association of Democratic Lawyers (NADEL)
The Palestine Solidarity Alliance (SA)
The Palestinian Solidarity Organisation
Tosunga Baninga
United for Palestine
University of Johannesburg
United Front
Women Affected by Mining United in Action (WAMUA)

Palestinian Human Rights Organisations Council (PHROC)

Addameer Prisoners’Support and Human Rights Association
Al-Haq
Al Mezan Centre for Human Rights
Aldameer Association for Human Rights
Defence for Children International – Palestine
Hurryyat Centre for Defence of Liberties and Civil Rights
Jerusalem Centre for Legal Aid and Human Rights
The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights
Ramallah Centre for Human Rights
Independent Commission for Human Rights (Observer)
Muwatin Institute for Democracy and Human Rights (Observer)

Palestinian Non-Governmental Organisations Network (PNGO) representing 132 Palestinian civil society organisations.

^{^[1]} Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide in the Gaza Strip (South Africa v. Israel), Declaration of Judge Nolte (ICJ, 24 May 2024) <https://www.icj-cij.org/sites/default/files/case-related/192/192-20240524-ord-01-02-en.pdf> para. 13

^{^[2]} Ibid.

^{^[3]} Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide in the Gaza Strip (South Africa v. Israel), Declaration of Judge Nolte (ICJ, 24 May 2024) <https://www.icj-cij.org/sites/default/files/case-related/192/192-20240524-ord-01-02-en.pdf> para. 15

^{^[4]} See UNGA Res. A/ES-10/L.33 (5 December 2024); UNGA Res. A/ES-10/L.32 (5 December 2024)

^{^[5]} Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide in the Gaza Strip (South Africa v. Israel), Order on Request for the Modification of the Order of 28 March 2024 (ICJ, 24 May 2024) <https://www.icj-cij.org/sites/default/files/case-related/192/192-20240524-ord-01-00-en.pdf> paras. 31-34

^{^[6]} Ibid., para. 27; see Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide in the Gaza Strip (South Africa v. Israel), Order on Request for the Modification of the Order of 26 January 2024 Indicating Provisional Measures (ICJ, 28 March 2024) <https://www.icj-cij.org/sites/default/files/case-related/192/192-20240328-ord-01-00-en.pdf> para. 18

^{^[7]} Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide in the Gaza Strip (South Africa v. Israel), Order on Request for the Modification of the Order of 28 March 2024 (ICJ, 24 May 2024) <https://www.icj-cij.org/sites/default/files/case-related/192/192-20240524-ord-01-00-en.pdf> para. 28

^{^[8]} Ibid., para. 7

^{^[9]} Ibid, Declaration of Judge Tladi (ICJ, 24 May 2024) <https://www.icj-cij.org/sites/default/files/case-related/192/192-20240524-ord-01-04-enc.pdf> para. 4

^{^[10]} Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (Bosnia and Herzegovina v. Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro)), Provisional Measures Order of 13 September 1993 (I.C.J. Reports 1993) para. 22, read with para. 53 (emphasis added)

^{^[11]} Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (Bosnia and Herzegovina v. Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro)), Request for the Indication of Provisional Measures of Protection Submitted by the Government of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina (ICJ, 27 July 1993) 1, 3

^{^[12]} Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide in the Gaza Strip (South Africa v. Israel), Declaration of Judge Aurescu (ICJ, 24 May 2024) <https://www.icj-cij.org/sites/default/files/case-related/192/192-20240524-ord-01-03-en.pdf> para. 8

^{^[13]} Ibid.

^{^[14]} Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide in the Gaza Strip (South Africa v. Israel), Order on Request for the Modification of the Order of 28 March 2024 (ICJ, 24 May 2024) <https://www.icj-cij.org/sites/default/files/case-related/192/192-20240524-ord-01-00-en.pdf> paras. 13, 17.

Rima Emad Abdullah Balawi

addameer — Mon, 24 Mar 2025 12:10:33 +0000

Rima Emad Abdullah Balawi

addameer Mon, 03/24/2025 - 14:10

Arrest:

At dawn on the 25th of February, the family of detainee Rima Balawi was awakened in terror by loud banging on the doors of their home in the village of Kufr Al-Labad, near Tulkarm. When they rushed to open the doors, they discovered that the visitors were a heavily armed force from the occupation army. After storming the house, the soldiers demanded her identification, and a female soldier took her to the bedroom for a body search before deciding to arrest her without allowing her to say goodbye to her family. She was not even allowed to change her clothes or put on a jacket to protect her from the cold, nor was she permitted to take her medication, despite being three months pregnant.

Following the arrest, the forces bound her hands with plastic zip ties and blindfolded her before placing her in a military jeep, marking the beginning of an unknown journey of detention, without any knowledge of her destination or what awaited her next.

We later learned through her lawyer’s visit to Damon Prison that after her arrest, Rima’s next stop was a military camp, followed by a detention center affiliated with the police station in the "Ariel" settlement, built on the lands of several villages in Salfit (Marda, Iskaka, Kifl Haris). There, she was taken to an interrogation room, where she faced an interrogator alone, without the presence of a female soldier. She was subjected to threats, shouting, and intimidation tactics. The interrogation lasted for about three hours while she sat on a chair, her hands and feet shackled, with only the blindfold removed.

Afterward, she was transferred to Hasharon Prison, known for its harsh humanitarian conditions, where she was placed in a cold and dirty cell. When she informed them that she was pregnant, she was taken to the prison clinic, but the doctor claimed it was not within his expertise. As a result, she was transferred to an external hospital for tests to confirm her pregnancy. Once her condition was verified, she was returned to Hasharon Prison, where she spent her first night as a pregnant detainee under dire conditions.

The next day, she was transferred to Damon Prison, which became her permanent place of detention. The conditions there were no better than those in Hasharon, whether in terms of food, water, or daily life, especially for a pregnant woman in need of special care and attention for herself and her unborn child amid such harsh circumstances.

Arrest on Charges of Incitement: The Occupation’s Tool to Strip Palestinians of Their Freedom

Since October 7, 2023, Israeli occupation forces have escalated their arrest campaigns against Palestinians at an unprecedented level, often based on the charge of "incitement" linked to social media posts. These campaigns have targeted hundreds of Palestinians, making incitement accusations a tool used by the occupation as a pretext to detain the entire Palestinian community amid the ongoing genocide in Gaza.

The Israeli military prosecution justifies its actions against Palestinians using Articles 251 and 199(c) of Military Order No. 1651 of 2009. The main issue with these legal provisions is that definitions of what constitutes incitement such as praise, endorsement, or encouragement are vague and open to broad interpretation by the judiciary and prosecution. This expansive authority has led to words like "mercy" or expressing condolences for martyrs and even posting an image of Al-Aqsa Mosque with a simple caption, being classified as incitement. Such expressions, deeply rooted in Palestinian culture and spirituality, are stripped of their humanitarian essence and reframed as inciting content.

In this context, the Israeli military prosecution at Salem Military Court filed an indictment against detainee Rima Balawi, accusing her of over 60 social media posts before reducing the number. The prosecution claimed that these posts incited violence and expressed support for the events of October 7. However, a key aspect of Rima’s case is that the posts cited in the indictment were published between October 7, 2023, and January 24, 2025, while her arrest took place on February 25, 2025. This raises serious questions about the legality of her detention and whether old social media posts can truly be considered incitement, especially when incitement is generally understood to be tied to ongoing events on the ground.

On the other hand, this arrest highlights the occupation's oppressive measures in persecuting Palestinians for their opinions, which constitutes a violation of one of the most fundamental human rights—the right to freedom of expression. This right is systematically violated through the military judicial system and its unjust laws.

In Rima’s case, we see how she now faces a prison sentence simply for expressing her personal views, all while enduring inhumane conditions in Damon Prison. Her emotions are torn between fear for her unborn child’s well-being amid the harsh conditions faced by female detainees and the relentless pressure of the incitement charge always looming over her. Despite her pregnancy, no consideration is given to her health or humanitarian needs, leaving her to struggle under a system that disregards her basic rights.

Chains and Shackles Await an Unborn Child

Rima, a mother of two young daughters—Yafa (seven years old) and Lamar (five years old)—and three months pregnant, is enduring harsh conditions following her arrest. Her brother describes the suffering of the two little girls, who desperately need their mother by their side—an absence that no family member can truly compensate for.

As time passes, their eyes fill with tears, searching for the warmth of their mother’s embrace, which the occupation has cruelly taken from them. Whether during sleep or play, their days are filled with endless questions about where she is.

The forced separation and pain of losing their mother, especially at such a young age, are beyond their comprehension. The question, “When will our mother come back?” echoes in their home every moment. With each passing day, the entire family pays the price of this unjust arrest, drowning in sorrow and loss, as if children this young are expected to bear the burden of their mother’s absence. Meanwhile, the occupation takes everything—even their right to a mother’s love.

On the other side, Rima is detained in Damon prison alongside 23 other female prisoners, 14 of whom are mothers. They endure harsh conditions that lack even the most basic human necessities, food shortages, mistreatment, abuse, and inadequate medical care. These conditions have worsened significantly since the events of October 7, 2023, as the crackdown on prisoners has escalated, depriving them of their most fundamental rights to a dignified life.

For Rima, being three months pregnant makes her suffering even greater. She lives in constant fear that her baby will be born in a place utterly devoid of humane living conditions. She is denied medical care suitable for her needs as an expecting mother, prison authorities do not provide her with regular check-ups or any attention to her health or that of her unborn child. Even drinking water, as Rima describes, is undrinkable due to its poor quality. The food is insufficient for her nutritional needs as a pregnant woman, and the prison administration does not provide her with essential supplements or vitamins required for a healthy pregnancy.

Last Update

24-03-2025