Israel’s ceaseless and genocidal bombardment of Gaza entered its 24th day on October 30. The ongoing airstrikes have killed 8,301 Palestinians since October 7, as per an update by the Palestinian Ministry of Health released on Monday, with dozens of people killed in overnight attacks as of Monday morning.
The attacks on Gaza have been accompanied by violent invasions by the Israeli occupation forces (IOF) of the West Bank, including multiple raids launched between Sunday night and Monday morning. According to the Wafa news agency, at least four Palestinians had been killed in Jenin as of October 30 morning.
These raids have also included mass arrest campaigns across the West Bank and East Jerusalem. On October 19, the Commission for Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs announced that the number of Palestinians being detained by Israel had increased from 5,300 before October 7, to over 10,000.
This included an estimated 4,000 Palestinians from Gaza, including workers, who were detained by Israel. According to an order issued by the Israeli Ministry of Security, Gazans were to be deemed as “unlawful combatants” and detained at the Sdeh Teiman military camp.
Meanwhile, 1,680 Palestinians have been arrested from across the West Bank since October 7, the Commission stated on October 30, with 80% of these arrests being converted into administrative detention, an illegal and arbitrary policy. Among those arrested include 17 journalists.
Palestinian prisoners face severe abuse and starvation
Prisoner advocacy organizations have also warned of a severe escalation of violence by the Israeli occupation against Palestinian political prisoners.
On October 23, 58-year-old Sheikh Omar Hamza Daraghmeh, a leader of Hamas, died while in custody in the Megiddo occupation prison. In a statement, Hamas condemned his death as an “assassination” and stated that he had been “martyred as a result of the torture” by the Occupation.
Less than 24 hours later, the Israeli Prison Service also announced the death of 25-year-old Arafat Yasser Hamdan, who had been held at the Ofer prison. Advocacy organizations have condemned his death as a representation of the “clear policy of assassination and murder by torture targeting the Palestinian prisoners.”
Both men had been abducted and detained by Israel days earlier in retaliation for the Al Aqsa Flood resistance operation.
On October 28, various prisoners’ organizations warned of an “appalling” level of systemic crimes being committed by the occupation, including the existence of a “systematic decision to kill prisoners.”
The statement, which was issued by the Commission of Detainees Affairs, noted that the Israeli occupation had used all the tools at its disposal to prevent lawyers from meeting their imprisoned clients, and that the prison administration had intentionally assaulted detainees who had visited with a lawyer or gone to court. The PFLP’s Office of Martyrs, Prisoners, and Wounded has also documented similar violations.
The occupation prison authorities have been carrying out systematic acts of both individual and collective punishment and retaliatory measures since October 7, including violent raids on sections of prisons and cells, which have been accompanied by the use of sound bombs, gas, and police dogs. Water and electricity supply have been cut off for long periods of time, access to televisions has been restricted, and radios and other personal belongings including shoes and blankets confiscated.
The prison canteen has been closed and the number of daily meals has been reduced to two. Even the food that is given is not well-cooked and often inedible, the organizations have said, condemning these actions as part of a policy of starvation. Salt and sugar have also been confiscated.
While there is already a documented history of deliberate medical neglect by Israel towards Palestinian prisoners, with over 230 people killed under such circumstances since 1967, Palestinians are now being further deprived of medical treatment including visits to clinics and civil hospitals for treatment of chronic diseases.
The number of prisoners confined to a single cell has been increased to more than 10. Palestinians have also been transferred both within and across prisons, placed under solitary confinement (a recognized form of torture) or otherwise isolated, and forbidden from going out into the prison yard.
Palestinian prisoners have been denied access to laundry services and prevented from taking waste out from their cells. Families and lawyers have also been restricted or forbidden from visiting those detained by the occupation.
Mass arrests and violence
Young Palestinians, including children, arrested in Jerusalem have been brutally beaten and tortured by occupation forces. Testimonies and photos shared by Palestinian detainees with Israeli news publication Haaretz depict severe bruising, beatings, insults, and humiliation. Some of the videos documenting this abuse have also been published on social media networks.
The unlawful, arbitrary and mass abduction and arrests of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank, formalized under the policy of “administrative detention,” has been a central practice of the Israeli occupation—detaining Palestinians indefinitely without charge or trial based on “secret evidence” to which neither the person detained nor their lawyers are privy.
In an advancement of its already illegal detention measures, Israel has extended the detentions of Palestinians in its custody, including by initiating trials under the anti-terrorism law, authorizing it to deny detainees access to their lawyers.
With emergency provisions currently in force, detainees accused of “security offenses” can be detained and denied access to their lawyer for a period of up to 30 days.
In a statement, Palestinian advocacy group Adalah said, “The emergency regulations also apply to Palestinians who are detained for not holding a permit to stay in Israel. This includes thousands of Palestinians whose permits were collectively revoked on October 7 and are being held incommunicado in unknown locations by Israeli authorities.”
Calls for “all for all” exchange grow in Israel
“The massive escalation of arrests aims not only to undermine the organization of resistance, solidarity and rising struggle against the genocide in Gaza, but also in an attempt to prevent the resistance from achieving a prisoner exchange for imprisoned Palestinian leaders, strugglers serving life sentences, and other prisoners that the occupation wants to avoid exchanging for the release of its prisoners of war,” Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network said in a statement.
An estimated 229 Israelis are being held in Gaza, with Hamas having released four hostages so far.
On Saturday, the resistance movement’s leader in Gaza, Yahya al-Sinwar, announced that Hamas was ready for an “all for all” exchange— that is, the release of all Israeli captives in exchange for the release of all Palestinian prisoners held by the occupation.
Hamas’ al-Qassam Brigades has accused Israel of delaying negotiations around the exchange, adding that the occupation has killed more than 50 hostages in its airstrikes on Gaza. Reports have also indicated Israel to be responsible for the killings of its own civilians and military personnel on, and after, October 7.
The government of Benjamin Netanyahu is now facing growing pressure from relatives and families of Israeli hostages held in Gaza, who have condemned a lack of communication and information regarding the situation.
Following a meeting between Netanyahu and the families on Saturday, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant stated, “the more military pressure, the more firepower and the more we strike Hamas– the greater our chances are to bring it to a place where it will agree to a solution that will allow the return of your loved one.”
However, some families of the Israeli hostages have voiced their support for a prisoner swap.
“As far as the families are concerned, a deal of a return of our family members immediately in the framework of ‘all for all’ is feasible, and there will be wide national support for this,” MeIrav Gornen, a representative of the families, said, as quoted by Al Jazeera.
