Ramallah, occupied Palestine – At least 662 arrests were carried out by Israeli occupation forces in the West Bank and Jerusalem during July alone, including 39 arrests among children and 12 among women, the Commission of Detainees’ Affairs, the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society (PPS) and the Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association said today.
This brings the total number of arrests in the West Bank since the start of the genocide to over 18,500, including more than 570 arrests among women and around 1,500 arrests among children. These figures include those who remain detained as well as those who were later released. They do not include the total number of detainees abducted from occupied Gaza, which is estimated to be in the thousands since the start of the genocide.
In their report documenting the key data and issues surrounding Palestinian political prisoners for July 2025, the organizations noted that Israeli occupation forces continue their systematic mass arrest campaigns in the West Bank, alongside the escalating settler violence across villages and towns, which contributed to the increasing pace of arrests. The settler attack on Masafer Yatta in Hebron in the southern occupied West Bank can be cited as a clear example of this. These campaigns were accompanied by field executions, home demolitions, an escalation in field interrogations often involving brutal beatings and abuse, as well as organized terror and the abduction of “wanted” individuals’ families—especially women—as hostages. Theft and confiscation have also become systematic policies accompanying arrests.
The occupation has also increased its use of “administrative detention,” with its intelligence services issuing hundreds of orders, including against female detainees and children, under the pretext of having a “secret file” not accessible by neither the detainee nor their lawyer. The number of “administrative detainees” is currently the highest in comparison to those who are undergoing trial or who have been sentenced, marking a serious escalation following the genocide. As of now, their number has reached 3,613 people, including more than 80 children and eight women.
The institutions also pointed to the continued targeting of journalists, either through placing them under “administrative detention” or arresting them over so-called “incitement” on social media. Since the beginning of the genocide, at least 195 cases of arrest or detention of journalists have been recorded, with 50 people still in custody, including one female journalist.
The recent increase in settler attacks has also contributed to more arrests among Palestinians. The murder of Odeh Al-Hathalin by a settler, and the subsequent arrest of several of his family members and townspeople, is as an example of systematic criminality. The role of the Israeli “judiciary”, which released the killer is an open invitation for settlers to continue acts of murder and displacement.
Occupation authorities have continued targeting released prisoners, particularly those freed as part of the recent exchange deals with Hamas in occupied Gaza, by raiding their homes, summoning them for interrogation, and harassing their families. This policy is a continuation of the broader targeting of former prisoners; a large proportion of current detainees are freed prisoners who have been arrested multiple times.
Horrific Conditions of Detention
Israeli prison authorities continue to commit systematic crimes against Palestinian political prisoners, most notably: torture, starvation, medical neglect, physical assaults, systematic theft, and unprecedented mass solitary confinement since the beginning of the genocide. According to detainee institutions, the number of identified martyred prisoners has risen to 76 people since the start of the genocide—including Samir al-Rifai from Jenin and Sayel Abu Al-Nasr arrested from Gaza, both of whom were killed in custody during July.
Throughout the same month, prisoners defense institutions were able to visit dozens of detainees in prisons and military camps. Their testimonies revealed the ongoing use of torture, including: systematic suppression, severe beatings, stun grenades, police dogs, rubber-coated bullets, and electric shocks. Other abuses included starvation, denial of medical treatment, and the spread of diseases and epidemics, particularly scabies skin disease, which saw a noticeable surge in Ofer Prison. Women and child prisoners were not spared, with continued violations committed against them. There is growing concern for the wellbeing of three pregnant female prisoners, who require urgent medical care.
As for detainees arrested from Gaza, their testimonies remain the most shocking and horrific, detailing crimes such as: pouring hot water on detainees’ bodies, forced full-body strip searches, prolonged stress positions (shabeh), prolonged shackling, the “disco interrogation” method, severe beatings, use of police dogs, and various psychological torture methods, which have coerced some detainees into providing dishonest confessions under duress. One detainee even attempted suicide. According to the Israeli prison authorities, the number of declared detainees from occupied Gaza is 2,378 people, all of whom they label as “unlawful combatants”, not including those held in military camps. Among them, 46 people have been killed in custody, while dozens more remain forcibly disappeared.
The prison administration continues to target leaders of the prisoners’ movement, who are kept in solitary confinement and frequently transferred between isolation units in “Janut” and “Megiddo” prisons, where they face routine physical assault and various forms of abuse.
On the issue of sick prisoners, detainee institutions face difficulty in tracking exact numbers due to widespread illnesses and the systematic denial of medical care—a form of medical abuse that takes many shapes. One notable case is Mohammed Abu al-Ezz from Jericho, who suddenly lost the ability to walk while detained in Naqab Prison, due to harsh detention conditions. He had no prior health problems before his arrest. His case is just one among hundreds of others who developed serious health conditions as a direct result of Israeli prison policies.
In light of the ongoing crimes against prisoners and detainees in Israeli prisons and camps, the institutions emphasized that these violations will persist as long as there remains systematic international failure to act against the genocide and its accompanying crimes. The institutions renewed their demands to the international human rights system to fulfill its responsibilities, warning against the exceptional treatment granted to the Israeli occupation by international powers, which has become a green light for further crimes. These are the same powers, the institutions noted, that imposed sanctions on UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese, in a blatant violation of international law—a direct threat to the integrity of the global human rights framework.
Update on the Number of Palestinian Political Prisoners in the Israeli Occupation’s Custody as of Early August 2025:
- Total number of prisoners stands at approximately 10,800 people, not including those held in Israeli military camps. This is the highest figure since the Second Intifada in 2000, based on available documentation.
- Females: Currently 49 women are being held, including two abducted from Gaza.
- Children: Over 450 child prisoners.
- “Administrative detainees:” As of early July, there are 3,613 administrative detainees, the highest proportion compared to sentenced or pre-trial detainees, and those labeled “unlawful combatants.”
- “Unlawful combatants”: Numbering 2,378, according to occupation authorities. This figure does not include all Gaza detainees held in army-run camps. This category also includes some Arab detainees from Lebanon and Syria.
Source: https://addameer.ps/news/5607
