According to a new report from the Colonisation and Wall Resistance Commission (CWRC), Israel has committed more than 38,000 human rights and legal violations in the occupied West Bank since 7 October 2023.

These 38,359 violations were committed by the Israeli occupation forces (IOF) and illegal colonial settlers against Palestinian citizens and their property.

Out of these, 31,205 incidents were attributed to the army, while settlers carried out 7,154 attacks, which led to the killing of 33 Palestinians. The report also revealed that settlers established an unprecedented 114 new settlement outposts during this same period, which triggered the forced displacement of 33 Palestinian Bedouin communities. These communities comprised of 455 families and a total of 2,853 people, who were forced to flee their homes.

Palestinian West Bank land being reclassified so the Israeli occupation can steal it

Since October 2023, Israel has taken control of around 5,500 hectares of Palestinian land, including large areas reclassified as ‘nature reserves’ and ‘state land’.

In addition, about 175 hectares were confiscated through the use of more than 100 military orders for the construction of security infrastructure and 25 buffer zones which were established around the illegal settlements, mainly in the northern part of the occupied West Bank.

The Israeli occupation’s apartheid system ensures the illegal settlers living in these settlements have everything at their disposal, even their own roads, which Palestinians are not permitted to use. Efforts have now intensified, to fragment Palestinian land and isolate communities, by expanding the network of these settler only roads, to connect the various settlements.

Settlement expansion at an unprecedented rate

Israeli occupation authorities reviewed 355 planning proposals for more than 37,000 new settlement units on over 3,800 hectares in the occupied West Bank and elsewhere. Nearly half have been approved, with the remainder pending. Jerusalem recorded the highest concentration of these plans with 148.

In the past two years, 11 existing outposts have been legalised, and almost 70 have received infrastructure support to strengthen settler hold over Palestinian land. Outposts often start off as nothing more than a caravan placed on Palestinian land by a settler, and are often accompanied by livestock grazing, fencing, and infrastructure that encroach on Palestinian territory.

Settlers use outposts strategically to seize Palestinian lands by establishing a physical, very often violent, presence that gradually expands, displacing Palestinian herders and farmers. The outposts are backed by the IOF and government, and disrupt Palestinian access to their land and resources, leading to forced displacement and land confiscation.

Settler violence, harassment, and theft of resources like water from Palestinian communities are common tactics used to enforce control and drive Palestinians out, facilitating the expansion of these outposts into larger settlements.

Violence and land theft used to displace Palestinians from their land

Since October 2023, military and settler actions have caused nearly 770 fires in the occupied West Bank, over 200 of which damaged private property while the rest destroyed farmland. These incidents damaged more than 48,000 trees. The violence and land seizures have displaced entire Bedouin communities, uprooting thousands of people from their homes.

The number of checkpoints and barriers in the occupied West Bank, along main routes and at the entrances and exits of villages and towns-which restrict movement of people and goods and isolate communities- now stands at 916, including more than 240 new gates installed since October 2024.

Israeli authorities carried out more than 1,000 demolitions, destroying almost 3,680 Palestinian structures, including over 1,200 inhabited homes and hundreds of agricultural and commercial facilities, while a further 1,670 demolition orders were issued targeting buildings across the West Bank.

CWRC: West Bank a testing ground for Israel’s colonial policies

In a recent press conference, Muayyad Shaaban, Head of CWRC, said the occupied Palestinian territories have become a testing ground for new colonial policies over the past two years. He accused the Israeli occupation of deploying policies that combine violence, territorial control, and legal measures to empower settlers while denying Palestinians basic rights such as housing, movement, and dignity.

Featured image via the Canary

By Charlie Jaay

This post was originally published on Canary.

Israel has plunged Gaza City into an even deeper humanitarian disaster than it was already in, as many major international aid organizations, which have already been battered by months of siege and bombardment, have now withdrawn or dramatically reined in their operations because of the relentless Israeli military offensive, and systematic displacement orders. This has left most of Gaza City’s Palestinian population, of hundreds of thousands, to face this catastrophe on their own.

MSF: “our clinics are encircled by Israeli forces”

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), whose international medics provided life saving wound care, surgeries, and malnutrition treatment to Palestinians battered by siege and displacement. announced the suspension of its activities in Gaza City in late September, blaming the continued airstrikes and advancing tanks less than one kilometre from their healthcare facilities for creating ‘an unacceptable level of risk’ to their staff.

Jacob Granger, MSF Emergency Coordinator in Gaza, said in a statement:

We have been left with no choice but to stop our activities, as our clinics are encircled by Israeli forces… This is the last thing we wanted.

MSF has highlighted the critical needs of the most vulnerable in Gaza City, including infants in neonatal care and patients with severe, life-threatening injuries who could not be evacuated. It has described hospitals as overwhelmed and facing severe shortages in staff, supplies, and fuel. Until its withdrawal, MSF carried out over 3,640 consultations and treated 1,655 patients suffering from malnutrition and severe trauma injuries and burns, as well as pregnant women and others requiring ongoing medical care who were unable to leave the city.

“With us gone, those left behind face catastrophe with little or no medical help at all,” the organisation warned.

15 MSF staff members have so far been killed in Gaza

ICRC suspends operations at Gaza City office as genocide has intensified

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has worked in Gaza City for decades, but it too, as of 1 October, has now been forced to suspend its operations there, relocating to central and Southern Gaza for safety.

The ICRC’s departure is seismic – its workers have long coordinated evacuation corridors, distributed food and water, and kept what little remained of public health infrastructure alive. It also supported baking facilities in 14 displacement camps that provided 45,000 loaves of bread per day. ICRC teams also supported water and wastewater network repairs.

Sarah Davies from the ICRC Jerusalem told the Canary:

We have temporarily suspended operations from out of our Gaza City office – however, we continue to provide operational support to Gaza City, alongside local partners like the Palestinian Red Crescent Society, and ongoing programmes continue.

As an organisation that works in conflict zones around the world, we are constantly assessing the risk to our staff, as well as the ability to reach civilians in need in these areas, and as military operations intensified in Gaza City, we were forced to make this decision.

Civilians facing a genocide are left without protection or humanitarian support

In a statement on 6 October Gaza’s Government Media Office expressed its ‘deep astonishment and strong condemnation’ of the ICRC’s decision, calling it ‘catastrophic, dangerous and irresponsible’, and saying:

It represents a painful retreat from the humanitarian and moral role entrusted to the ICRC, and it does not serve the Palestinian people who are facing daily acts of genocide. Rather, it abandons defenseless civilians without protection or genuine humanitarian support in one of the most dangerous and devastated areas on earth.

We affirm that the International Committee of the Red Cross is a body protected under international humanitarian law and the Geneva Conventions. It has a duty to operate in conflict zones, not to withdraw from them. Such a step at this critical time contradicts the very essence of its humanitarian mandate and the purpose for which it was established.

Although the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), which has been providing lifesaving clean drinking water at about a dozen sites within Gaza City, reports that even these critical activities are being threatened by heavy bombardments and restricted access, it is still managing to continue with its operations at the moment, although the number of sites are changing every day, based on the conditions, and the ability to access areas. There has also been so much displacement that some of the sites that NRC has been serving are now empty, so they have stopped delivering to them.

Norwegian Refugee Council: “most of our staff have fled” Gaza City

The Canary spoke with Shaina Low from the Norwegian Refugee Council. She said:

Providing water is the only in person we are doing at the moment. While we are continuing to operate, the water is being delivered by contractors. We have very limited staff that have remained in Gaza city, and most of those are not in conditions where they are able to work, because of lack of connectivity and security.

Most of our staff have fled, we cannot tell them to stay. They have a right to withdraw and we have a duty of care. But I need to make clear, our staff are not the ones going out daily and delivering water. That’s being done by contractors that are connected to the desalination devices, but many have now relocated to the South and brought their equipment with them.

So we have shortages of equipment and fuel, and a limited number of service providers we are still able to work with in Gaza City, to continue providing  clean drinking water.

According to Low, the NRC has managed to keep providing support for some of its services over the phone to the people in Gaza City, such as its Legal Aid Programme, and its Protection from Violence Programme, and has also helped some families who have wanted to move to the South but have been unable to do so – maybe because of injury or disability, by paying for their journey.

She says:

But now we are in a situation where we are not sure if that is feasible anymore, because Israel has closed the Northbound route, so if the trucks take Palestinian to the South they will be unable to return to the North.

Twice in September, within a couple of days of each other, NRC staff were confronted by about 40 armed individuals at its premises in Gaza City, while preparations were underway to relocate contingency supplies for operational needs. This had not happened before, in the past two years, and shows how desperate the situation has become.

The group seized 250 litres of fuel, a number of food parcels and also water bottles. Although NRC staff were unharmed, desperate, starving Palestinians, and also armed gangs supported by the occupation are becoming a growing problem in Gaza, while the teams which used to escort aid supplies and act as security, be at the warehouses and at the distribution points, have all been intentionally attacked or threatened by the Israeli occupation.

Palestine Red Crescent Society: intentional targeting of ambulances and clinics

While MSF and ICRC have halted their work in Gaza City, the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) continues to operate, although many of its clinics, hospitals and ambulances have been intentionally damaged or destroyed by Israeli occupation forces, and their staff, along with the Palestinian Civil Defense – who are responsible for providing emergency and relief services – take extreme risks responding to emergencies amid the bombs.

They have been targeted in attacks while responding to airstrikes targeting shelters, schools, and residential towers filled with displaced families. They are often the only medical and rescue providers accessible to civilians in Gaza city.

PRCS staff have been killed since October 2023, while on duty, and in a statement marking two years since the start of the genocide, the PRCS said:

The suffering of the Palestinians in Gaza has reached shocking levels: The stench of death filling every corner, and the rubble of destroyed homes, schools, roads, and other civilian infrastructure dominating the landscape… the occupation directly targeted its staff without any regard for their humanitarian mission or the internationally protected emblem of the Red Crescent.

Palestinian Civil Defense have rescued almost 126,000 Palestinians in Gaza during the genocide

The Palestinian Civil Defense teams in Gaza are the last emergency responders operating in Gaza City, trying to find survivors who have been buried under the rubble, with no specialist equipment and hardly any supplies or fuel left for vehicles.

On 7 October the Civil Defense announced that their teams had recovered the bodies of more than 53,700 and rescued around 125,750 wounded in Gaza, since the beginning of the genocide, and in this time they received 635,000 emergency calls. They were not able to reach 52,000 of these, either due to fuel shortages or due to the areas being targeted by the occupation

The situation is desperate and it is getting much worse every day. As international aid organizations fall silent, not by choice but because of the relentless bombing, encirclement, and systemic destruction, the population of Gaza City has been abandoned to catastrophe. Hospitals are destroyed, water is scarce, and the means of survival for Palestinians are rapidly deteriorating.

The institutions designed to help civilians in times of conflict – MSF, the ICRC, the NRC – are being pushed out one by one. This is not a natural disaster, but the outcome of policy which is deliberate and has been emboldened by global silence.

The Israeli regime has faced no consequences for any of its actions, since its formation in 1948, and acts with total impunity.

This genocide has erased thousands of families from the civil registry, and entire neighborhoods, starved the entire Palestinian population of Gaza, crushed civil infrastructure, and terrorized and murdered medics, aid workers, and civilians. The systematic targeting of these humanitarian personnel is part of the architecture of the occupation, a form of control that does not leave any pathway for accountability.

It’s time to make Israel and all its allies face the consequences and pay for their crimes

Shielded by its powerful allies, and insulated from all international legal mechanisms, the occupation has been given the strength to continue pursuing its crimes by a global order that has completely failed to hold it to the same standards that it claims to impose on others.

While the world debates wording, international law is being ripped to pieces. It is time for the illegal Israeli occupation to be held to account and to pay the price for its continuing violations of international law, and its complete disregard for humanity, before it succeeds in its goal of genocide, of erasing Palestinian life in Gaza. All those responsible for these atrocities – the individuals, states and corporations who order them, justify them, and supply them – must face consequences for their crimes.

Featured image via the Canary

By Charlie Jaay

This post was originally published on Canary.

Two years after the outbreak of war on Gaza, Philippe Lazzarini, Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), described what Gaza is experiencing as:

an extended nightmare of destruction, displacement, bombing, fear, death and hunger.

He called for an immediate ceasefire and the full and unconditional introduction of humanitarian aid, and added:

Sadness, suffering, and deep pain have become a daily reality for millions of people since October 7, 2023. In Gaza, for two years, people have known nothing but devastation, deprivation, and constant fear.

Palestine ‘beyond the limits of a humanitarian catastrophe’

The UN official also renewed his call for the release of all Palestinian hostages and detainees, stressing that the continuing cycle of violence and deprivation “pushed the population to the brink of annihilation.
He added:

There is no way out of this hell except to silence guns, everywhere, and return the voice of humanity to this earth.

Lazzarini also called on the international community to ensure the unrestricted flow of essential humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip. Importantly, he explained that this had to happen through UNRWA, noting that hunger, disease, and the collapse of public services have made life in the Strip:

beyond the limits of a humanitarian catastrophe.

He stressed the need for accountability and justice for crimes and violations committed since the beginning of the war, saying that:

justice is the only path towards any possible peace.

Lazzarini’s statements come at a time when Gaza is plunged into one of the worst humanitarian crises in modern history, with more than two million people living under siege amid almost complete destruction of infrastructure, continuous power outages, and severe scarcity of food, water and medicine. Lazzarini concluded:

Gaza today is not just a humanitarian crisis. It is a real test for all of our humanity.

Featured image via the Canary

By Alaa Shamali

This post was originally published on Canary.

A report issued by the government media office in Gaza has revealed shocking figures on the extent of the destruction that befell the education sector. Local authorities have described the findings as tantamount to “educational genocide” that threatens the future of an entire generation of children in the Strip.

According to the report, a copy of which was received by the Canary, 95% of Gaza’s schools were severely damaged during the war, while 90% of them need complete reconstruction due to the widespread destruction of educational infrastructure.

80% of schools destroyed by Israel

An analysis of the report’s figures revealed that 668 schools were directly bombed, representing 80% of the total number of schools in the Gaza Strip. Meanwhile, 165 schools, universities, and educational institutions were completely destroyed, and 392 other educational institutions were partially damaged, completely halting the educational process for the third consecutive year.

Figures show that 785,000 students were deprived of their right to education for the third academic year in a row, while more than 13,500 students lost their lives under Israeli bombing. The report also confirmed the killing of 830 teachers and educational staff, and 193 scientists and researchers, which observers describe as “systematic targeting of the Palestinian mind”.

Israel not only destroyed schools, laboratories, and universities, but also targeted teachers and researchers who constitute the intellectual core of Palestine’s future. An official from the government media office in Gaza said that:

what is happening is not just a war, but an organised process to obliterate national awareness and identity by destroying the entire educational system.

Education…another victim of genocide

Local, human rights, and international institutions have confirmed at varying times that the continued targeting of schools and educational facilities constitutes a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law and the Geneva Conventions, which guarantee the protection of civilian institutions, especially educational ones, during armed conflicts.

Tens of thousands of children in Gaza face severe psychological and educational difficulties, in light of the absence of a safe school environment and the lack of the necessary capabilities for distance learning, as hundreds of schools have been turned into shelters or rubble.

In the absence of any international plan to rebuild the education sector, officials at the Gaza media office warn that losing three consecutive years of education will have a “long-term catastrophic impact” on the invading society, considering that the war has not only killed children and teachers, but has “assassinated the entire future.”

As the war enters its third year, rebuilding schools and educational institutions must become an urgent priority within any plan to rebuild Gaza, given that “saving education is the first step to restoring life to the besieged Strip”.

Featured image via YouTube screenshot/Al Jazeera English

By Alaa Shamali

This post was originally published on Canary.

Taher Al-Nunu, media advisor to the head of Hamas’s political bureau, expressed cautious optimism regarding developments in the indirect peace negotiations underway in the Egyptian city of Sharm El-Sheikh, which aim to reach a ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip.

Peace negotiations to go ahead

In a brief press release published by Hamas, Al-Nunu said that the Hamas delegation “provided the necessary positivity and responsibility to achieve the desired progress,” noting that an atmosphere of optimism prevails among the various participating parties. Al-Nunu also emphasised that the current round of talks focuses on three main issues:

• implementing a comprehensive ceasefire agreement
• the withdrawal of Israeli occupation forces from the Gaza Strip
• a prisoner exchange between the two sides.

According to Al-Nunu, today witnessed an exchange of lists of prisoners to be released, according to previously agreed-upon criteria and numbers, which is seen as an indicator of tangible progress in the negotiations. He added that regional and international mediators, primarily Egypt, Qatar, and the United States, are making intensive efforts to overcome the remaining obstacles to implementing the agreement, stressing that indirect talks continue today with the participation of all parties.

These developments come amid increasing pressure from the international community to end the ongoing war in Gaza, which has left widespread destruction and a worsening humanitarian crisis in the Strip.

Israeli Obstacles: A Legacy of Broken Agreements

Despite this positive atmosphere, Hamas and the mediators do not hide their concern about Israel’s long record of obstructing the implementation of previous agreements. In previous rounds of negotiations, Israel was accused of stalling on advanced stages of prisoner exchange deals, in addition to refusing to fully withdraw from the Strip or effectively lift the blockade, which repeatedly led to the collapse of truce attempts.

Tel Aviv was also accused of backtracking on understandings brokered by Egypt and Qatar, particularly regarding expanding humanitarian aid, reconstruction, and the sustainable opening of crossings. These points are considered essential for the Palestinians in any future agreement.

As such, Al-Nunu emphasised that mediators, particularly Egypt, Qatar, and the United States, are making great efforts to overcome obstacles, including pressuring the Israeli side to ensure compliance with any agreement reached. He explained that indirect negotiations between the parties are continuing today, with intensified efforts to formulate practical steps to end the months-long war, which has claimed the lives of thousands of civilians and caused massive destruction to the Gaza Strip’s infrastructure.

The International Community is Waiting… and the Gaza Strip is Waiting

This round of talks comes amid mounting international pressure on Israel to halt its ongoing military operation, following warnings from human rights and UN organisations that Gaza is on the brink of a humanitarian catastrophe.

While capitals await the results of the Sharm el-Sheikh talks, the Palestinian streets, particularly the residents of Gaza, remains awaiting tangible results that will end the blockade, cease fire, and put an end to years of suffering.

Featured image via the Canary

By Alaa Shamali

This post was originally published on Canary.

In more than two years of war, the Gaza Strip has been subjected to massive bombing by the Israeli occupation army. An estimated total of 200,000 tonnes of explosives, using all types of weapons, missiles and explosive devices from land, air, and sea have bombarded Gaza.

This quantity is equivalent to the total energy of approximately 13 Hiroshima-type nuclear bombs. Inevitably, this raises questions about the extent of the destruction, the nature of the human and material losses, and the area of land affected compared to a similar historical disaster.

The US bomb dropped on Hiroshima weighed around 4 tonnes. It destroyed approximately 13 km², killed approximately 180,000 people immediately and in the following months. In Gaza, Professor Paul Rogers has said that the bombs dropped are:

equivalent to six Hiroshimas.

And, there’s another key difference. The bombings in Gaza are spread across cities and residential neighbourhoods covering large areas. The relentless barrage has caused widespread and continuous destruction, with the systematic annihilation of infrastructure and basic services.

Area of destruction

And, the Gaza Strip covers an area of 365 km², way less than half the size of London, which covers an area of 1,572 km². And, the population in Gaza are trapped in the midst of widespread destruction, with nowhere to go. The Gaza government ministry has reported:

Israel’s war on Gaza has killed a total of 67,183 Palestinians and injured 169,841 others since 7 October 2023.

More than 169,000 people suffered permanent physical injuries, with thousands of cases of amputation and paralysis. Thousands of families have been completely wiped out of the civil registry, and tens of thousands have been displaced.

Medical and educational infrastructure have been ravaged and left barely functioning. Families have lost all their possessions, and been displaced many, many times over. Electricity is scarce, as is water, and communication networks are patchy at best.

Scale

The ongoing war and destruction have created two generations living in insecurity under daily fear, hunger and cold, amid darkness and power cuts. Children sleep on the floor without lights, students write their homework by candlelight, and hospitals operate with extremely restricted means.

Although the explosions are distributed and non-nuclear, the scale of human, social and economic destruction is equivalent to or exceeds the impact of a nuclear explosion on a small city, with long-term effects on future generations.

The real irony lies in the difference between the numerical energy of the explosives and the scale of human and social destruction. Gaza today is not just a geographical area; it is a symbol of ongoing suffering and educational, health and social annihilation. Comparing the explosive yield to the Hiroshima bomb puts the scale of the tragedy into perspective for the world, but it is not enough to convey the psychological and social dimensions of what Palestinian generations are experiencing under this ongoing siege.

Featured image via YouTube screenshot/Gaza News

By Alaa Shamali

This post was originally published on Canary.

Gaza, which has been living under the weight of Israel’s war of extermination for more than two years, is now facing one of the greatest humanitarian disasters of modern times. Widespread destruction that has affected all sectors of Palestinian society.

A statistical report issued by the Gaza Government Media Office, a copy of which was obtained by the Canary, highlighted the scale of direct losses, which exceeded $70 billion and affected all areas of life in the sector. The damage ranged from from health and education to housing and basic services, confirming the continuing humanitarian suffering of more than 2.4 million Palestinians.

Gaza tragedy

The continuous bombing of hospitals and medical centres has led to initial losses estimated at $5 billion. Meanwhile losses in education have exceeded $4 billion, with schools and universities destroyed. The education sector has lost thousands of teachers and researchers, including 830 teachers and 193 scientists and researchers. In addition, some 785,000 students have been deprived of their right to education for the third consecutive year, which will have a catastrophic impact on future generations.

The war has destroyed thousands of homes, resulting in initial losses in the housing sector estimated at $28 billion, while damage to religious institutions amounted to approximately $1 billion, with 835 mosques and three churches destroyed. These losses were not limited to infrastructure, but also led to the displacement of tens of thousands of residents and created a general state of insecurity and deprivation.

Destruction of the production sector and economic life

The local industry suffered initial destruction worth $4 billion, trade $4.5 billion, and agriculture $2.8 billion. The media sector incurred losses of up to $4 billion, and the entertainment and hotel sector $2 billion.
These figures reveal the near-total collapse of the local economy, exacerbating the suffering of the population under the ongoing blockade and shortage of basic resources.

Homes and household services were affected to the tune of $4 billion, while communications and internet networks suffered $3 billion in damage, transportation $2.8 billion, electricity $1.4 billion, and municipalities and public services around $6 billion. Taken together, these losses reflect the daily suffering of the population from power cuts, water shortages and the disruption of vital services, making life in the Strip almost impossible.

Ongoing humanitarian tragedy

These figures confirm that Gaza is not just a war zone, but an ongoing humanitarian tragedy that threatens future generations. The report calls on the international community to take immediate action to stop the violence, protect civilians, ensure the delivery of humanitarian aid, work to rebuild the sector and rehabilitate its infrastructure, and find a fair mechanism to compensate for the losses, in order to ensure a dignified life for the people of Gaza after two years of continuous destruction.

Featured image via YouTube screenshot/Associated Press

By Alaa Shamali

This post was originally published on Canary.

Two years into the genocide in Gaza and the expansion of the Israel occupation’s military operations across the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, prisoner’s rights organisations say the occupation’s prisons have become central to a system of organised violence.

A shocking report on Israel

A new report, titled Prisons as a Frontline of Genocide: Two Years of War Crimes Against Palestinian Political Detainees, by the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society, the Commission of Detainees’ Affairs, and Addameer, details widespread abuses against Palestinian political detainees, and describes this past two years as:

one of the most brutal periods in the history of the Palestinian prisoner movement, which has long resisted a prison system designed to physically and psychologically destroy detainees.

The total number of Palestinian political prisoners Israel has killed while in detention, since 1967, is estimated at 314 people. According to the report, 77 have been killed, and their identities confirmed, since the beginning of the genocide in Gaza. This is a record number, with the deaths attributed to beatings, medical neglect, starvation, and torture.

The findings of the report draw on hundreds of testimonies, legal documents, and official statements, including public threats from Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, and the occupation’s far-right government.

Israel’s occupation authorities are accused of committing large-scale war crimes and crimes against humanity- torture, sexual assault, deliberate starvation, denial of medical care, and enforced disappearances- under the watch of a judicial system that offers ‘legal cover’ to these acts.

Around 20,000 arrests in the West Bank, Including Jerusalem, since start of the ‘War of Extermination’

Since October 2023, the scale of arrests and violence by Israel has intensified dramatically.

In the occupied West Bank, including Jerusalem, approximately 20,000 Palestinians have been detained – among them 1,600 children and nearly 600 women. The mass arrests have come alongside collective punishment measures such as beatings, home demolitions, the use of detainees as human shields, and the destruction of neighbourhood infrastructure in Tulkarem and Jenin.

Violations also included the demolition of prisoners’ family homes, use of family members as hostages, use of detainees as human shields, and field executions. According to the report, the arrests have also provided cover for expanding illegal settlements.

Among those detained are 202 journalists, most held under administrative detention – with no charge or trial, or accused of ‘incitement’, a charge frequently applied to restrict free expression. Two Gaza reporters, Nidal Al-Wahidi and Haitham Abdel Wahid, have vanished in Israeli custody. The report also confirms that 360 medical professionals have been detained, three who died from torture while in detention. These were Lyad Al-Rantisi, Adnan Al-Barsh, and Ziad Al-Dalu.

New depths of abuse

These is a regime of repression and deprivation inside the Israeli occupation prisons, where prisoners have reported being tortured with stun grenades and electroshock weapons, subjected to strip searches and sexual assault, and kept in solitary confinement.

Food is being deliberately limited, contributing to the spread of disease, including outbreaks of scabies. Those classified as ‘unlawful combatants’, most of whom are from Gaza, are held without trial or charge for indefinite periods.

The testimonies of Gaza detainees have revealed new depths of abuse. Some described being tortured from the moment of arrest through interrogation and imprisonment. Human rights monitors have documented 46 confirmed deaths among Gaza detainees, out of the total 77 prisoners killed since the war began.

Others remain unaccounted for. Camps such as Sde Teiman have reportedly become central sites of torture and killing, while the underground Rakevet section of Ramla Prison is known to be a place of enforced disappearance.

As of October 2025, more than 11,100 Palestinians are being held in Israeli prisons. This is more than double the number before the genocide began, and the highest total since the Second Intifada.

Of those detained, 350 are facing or serving life sentences, and 17 of these have been imprisoned since before the Oslo Accords, four of them since 1986. The report records 53 female prisoners, and over 400 children detained. The many Palestinians imprisoned in secret military camps are not included in official figures.

Israel is being given permission for this

Before the genocide began, the total prison population stood at around 5,250, including 40 women and 180 children.

The surge since 2023 has coincided with bans on family visits, the exclusion of the International Committee of the Red Cross from inspection visits, and the criminalisation of human rights groups- Addameer, along with Al-Haq, the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights, and Al-Mezan have been targeted by US sanctions and declared ‘terrorist’ entities, a move which aims to dismantle any remaining form of accountability.

The report describes these combined measures as a ‘policy of extermination’- a campaign to destroy the physical and psychological resilience of an entire population through incarceration, torture, and isolation.

They demand that the international community moves beyond its statements of concern and bring about binding resolutions supporting the Palestinian right to freedom and self-determination. It argues that what is unfolding inside the prison walls reflects the wider devastation across Gaza and the occupied West Bank.

The silence of the international community, it warns, risks normalising a system of disappearance and death- a system that has ’turned the prison into a weapon of genocide’.

Featured image via the Canary

By Charlie Jaay

This post was originally published on Canary.