prisoners

Israeli police officers arrest activist Itamar Greenberg at an anti-war protest in Tel Aviv, May 24, 2025. (Oren Ziv)

‘Next time, we’ll tattoo a Star of David on your face’

After his arrest, Israeli prison officers forced a Jewish anti-war activist to wear a pro-Israel shirt, a degrading practice often used against Palestinian prisoners.

By Oren Ziv June 2, 2025

A prisoner seen making a phone call in Gilboa Prison, northern Israel, February 28, 2013. (Moshe Shai/Flash90)

Palestinian prisoners left in the dark by Israel’s coronavirus restrictions

With family and lawyer visits canceled due to coronavirus, Palestinians in Israeli prisons, including minors, are now completely cut off from the world.

By Oren Ziv March 22, 2020

Palestinian demonstration for the release of prisoners, Ofer military prison (photo: Activestills)

How the hunger strike could bring Palestinian prisoners back to the fore

The fixation on Barghouti’s op-ed bio distracts from the strike’s impact on Palestinians, which is as much about restoring political direction as it is about attaining prisoners’ rights. In 2015, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) created the “Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners.” Nicknamed after the renowned South African leader who spent…

By Amjad Iraqi April 20, 2017

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Illustrative photo of Palestinian prisoners in an Israeli military prison (By ChameleonsEye / Shutterstock.com)

A law banning torture in Israel? Don’t hold your breath

An anti-torture law currently being drafted by the Justice Ministry is not enough to fix an entire legal system that allows the practice to be used against an occupied population. During its review session at the UN Committee Against Torture in Geneva on Wednesday, Israel’s representatives informed the committee that the Justice Ministry is drafting…

By Amjad Iraqi May 6, 2016

Ayalon prison facility, near the city of Ramla (photo: Activestills)

Israel bans Palestinian prisoners from bringing in books

The ban is a response to smuggling attempts using hollowed-out books, prison officials say. No such sweeping punishments are imposed on Israeli prisoners, attorney says. The Israel Prison Service (IPS) has been changing its policy about what it allows Palestinian security prisoners to receive inside its prisons, and has now banned them from bringing in…

By Haggai Matar January 27, 2016

Jaffa protest in solidarity with Palestinian prisoners (Mati Milstein)

Israel isn’t denying that it uses torture, it’s justifying it

Responding to a right-wing campaign accusing it of torturing ‘Jewish terrorism’ suspects, Israel’s domestic intelligence agency basically admits doing so, and insists it is acting within the law. Last week’s episode of “This American Life” was called The Poetry of Propaganda. The Chicago-based radio program discussed how official government messaging often contains different meanings for different…

By Michael Schaeffer Omer-Man December 25, 2015

Israeli border police arrest a Palestinian youth in East Jerusalem’s Shuafat Refugee Camp, file photo. (Photo by Tess Scheflan/Activestills.org)

Number of Palestinian minors in Israeli prisons doubles

There are so many new Palestinian minors being sent to Israeli prisons that authorities had to open a new wing to house them. Rights groups report numerous cases of mistreatment, and that the children are moved outside of the West Bank in violation of international law. By Noam Rotem Israeli authorities have arrested hundreds of…

By +972 Magazine November 20, 2015

Avraham 'Avera' Mengistu (Facebook)

Archaic gag order lifted: Two Israeli civilians being held in Gaza

This is the third time in five years — that we can discuss — in which Israeli authorities have tried to use comprehensive gag orders to stop the publication of stories of public interest. This also is the third time that the Internet has made a mockery of such efforts to control information. A 28-year-old…

By Michael Schaeffer Omer-Man July 9, 2015

Illustrative photo of Palestinian prisoners in an Israeli military prison (By ChameleonsEye / Shutterstock.com)

Solitary confinement: A common denominator in Jerusalem attacks

Israel held over 3,000 prisoners — in over 5,000 incidents — in solitary confinement over the course of last year. Over 200 minors were sent to solitary. Experts call the practice cruel and inhuman treatment, and agree that it causes severe psychiatric problems. With two attacks in Jerusalem within the span of a week committed…

By +972 Magazine November 3, 2014

An Israeli soldier checks a Palestinian man’s documents at a checkpoint outside the West Bank city of Hebron on June 17, 2014, as the hunt for three Israeli teenagers believed kidnapped by militants entered its fifth day. (Photo: Tess Scheflan/Activestills.org)

The kidnapping and the Israeli military operation – in numbers

Since the kidnapping of three Israeli teenagers from a hitchhiking stop in the West Bank on June 12, 2014, the Israel Defense Forces has been operating all over the Palestinian territories, in Areas A, B and C. The following list attempts to provide some basic statistics on the toll it has been exacting. While Israeli…

By Mairav Zonszein June 20, 2014

Palestinian women look on and react as Jerusalem municipality workers demolish a residential building in an East Jerusalem neighborhood of Beit Hanina, on October 29, 2013. (Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)

From prisoner release to home demolitions: A week in photos – October 25-31

This week: Prisoner releases, house demolitions, weekly demonstrations, olive harvests, prayerful protests, and asylum seekers.

By Activestills November 1, 2013

Family members and friends celebrate as they wait for the release of 26 Palestinian Prisoners jailed in Israeli prisons in the Mukata presidential compound on October 29, 2013 in Ramallah, West Bank. (Hamde Abu Rahma/Activestills.org)

PHOTOS: Palestinians celebrate prisoner release in West Bank

Palestinians celebrated as they received 26 prisoners who were released from Israeli prisons in the early hours of Wednesday. The men were freed in the second stage of a deal between Israel and the Palestinian Authority designed to enable a return to negotiations. Thousands of people gathered in Ramallah and throughout the West Bank to…

By Activestills October 30, 2013

Palestinians carry on their shoulders.Palestinian prisoner Asmat Mansor, after he was freed from Israeli detention, Ramallah, August 14, 2013. (Oren Ziv/ Actviestills)

PHOTOS: Released Palestinian prisoners arrive home to West Bank

Israel released 26 Palestinian prisoners early Wednesday morning – 15 to Gaza and 11 to the West Bank – as part of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, hours before the first official meeting between the two sides. The Palestinian prisoners released to the West Bank arrived at Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’s presidential compound in the West Bank city…

By Activestills August 14, 2013