Palestinian commission reports abuses against detainees in Israeli prison in West Bank

By Qais Abu Samra and Ahmed Asmar

RAMALLAH, Palestine (AA) – A Palestinian commission on Wednesday reported abuses against detainees in the Israeli Etzion Prison in the southern West Bank.

“Some 110 Palestinian prisoners in the Etzion Prison are facing oppression and living in very poor conditions,” the Commission of Detainees’ Affairs said in a statement.

It said prisoners were denied hot water for a shower for alleged lack of fuel to heat water for the past 45 days amid winter cold.

“Most detainees have not taken a shower for over 40 days now,” it added.

It cited a lawyer who visited the detainees as saying that all prisoners “were badly beaten” during their arrest.

The commission also said prisoners are given small quantities of food during suhoor, a daily pre-dawn meal before fasting in the holy month of Ramadan.

According to Palestinian figures, Israel holds over 9,500 Palestinian detainees in its prisons, including 1,555 prisoners from the Gaza Strip.

Tension has been running high across the occupied West Bank, where at least 930 Palestinians have been killed and nearly 7,000 others injured in attacks by the Israeli army and illegal settlers since the start of the Israeli war on Gaza, where 48,400 people have been killed since October 2023.

In July, the International Court of Justice declared Israel’s long-standing occupation of Palestinian territories illegal, calling for the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.