As part of the peace deal between Israel and Hamas, Israeli hostages were exchanged for Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli custody.
The swap has raised fresh questions about the nature of Palestinian imprisonment in Israel – and whether some detainees are, in fact, political prisoners or even hostages in their own right.
Human rights organisations have long criticised Israel’s use of administrative detention, a policy allowing authorities to detain individuals without charge or trial, often for indefinite renewable periods of six months.
A woman embraces a newly released Palestinian prisoner, Allam Al-Ra’i from Nablus, who was among those returning from Israeli jails on Monday in Ramallah, West Bank.Credit: Getty Images
According to a report by Amnesty International last month, Israeli authorities had recently significantly escalated the use of this practice across the occupied West Bank. The report also highlights extended emergency measures that facilitate degrading treatment of detainees, and raises concerns about a failure to investigate allegations of torture and deaths in custody.
Figures from the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club suggest that since the October 7 Hamas attack, Israeli forces have detained more than 2200 Palestinians. Data from Israeli human rights group HaMoked shows that between October 1 and November 1, the number of Palestinians held in administrative detention rose from 1319 to 2070.
A Palestinian prisoner makes the victory sign after being released.Credit: AP
While Israel maintains that these detentions are necessary for security reasons, watchdog groups point to a pattern of arbitrary arrests and a lack of due process, particularly targeting Palestinians in the West Bank. Amnesty International has also documented the systemic use of torture by Israeli authorities over the past decades.
Recently, graphic images and videos have surfaced online appearing to show Israeli soldiers beating, humiliating, and stripping detainees, often blindfolded and bound. The footage has further fuelled international condemnation, with rights advocates calling the treatment a form of public humiliation and a breach of international law.