Abuses against Palestinian women in Israeli prisons have increased over the past few months, warns human rights monitoring group
Abuses against the female Palestinian prisoners in Israel prisons have increased in the past few months, according to a human rights monitoring group.
As reported by a commission of the Palestinian Authority's Ministry of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs, women prisoners have been exposed to daily strip searches, arbitrary room inspections and confiscation of clothes and other basic items.
The commission said in a recent statement that 94 female prisoners in the Damon Prison in northern Israel are "suffering" in deteriorating conditions that are "beyond all imaginable limits."
"Hundreds of testimonies from prisoners reveal shocking and horrific accounts of what has occurred and is ongoing against both male and female prisoners," said the commission, establishing its statement on recent visits made by lawyers to the prisoners. "This includes the testimonies of female prisoners from Gaza, who have faced violations and crimes more severe and cruel than ever since the war began." (Related: Palestinian prisoners being raped, tortured and murdered in Israeli prisons: “I am proud of that,” says National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir.)
Israeli authorities denying female prisoners medical care, humanitarian aid
Hadeel Hassanein, the sister of imprisoned journalist Rula Hassanein, said her sick sister was suffering complications because of the denial of medical treatment in prison. Rula was arrested from her home in Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank on March 19.
The military court of the Ofer Prison, located in the occupied West Bank, issued two orders for Rula's release but were later denied by the Israeli Defense Forces' Military Prosecution.
According to Tala Nasser, a lawyer at the Ramallah-based NGO Addameer, which supports Palestinian prisoners and defends them against Israeli human rights abuses, medical negligence and overcrowding in women's prisons have worsened.
"Female prisoners are given very little time outdoors, mainly for showering, as the showers are outside the cells," Nasser said in an interview with Middle East Eye.
"Additionally, the Israeli prison administration is deliberately withholding cleaning supplies in Damon Prison, which has led to an increase in skin infections due to overcrowding. Most prisoners are forced to sleep on the floor."
Among the most notable violations confronted by female prisoners are strip searches.
Under the pretense of security procedures, female prisoners are forced to remove all clothing, along with underwear, while also sustaining verbal abuse and ill-treatment.
Denying sufficient food to detainees is another normal practice of Israeli prisoner authorities.
Based on several testimonies, the daily food rations given by the Israeli prison administration hardly create half of a normal meal.
Meanwhile, Hamas said that the Israeli Damon prison administration's confiscation of jilbabs, hijabs and niqabs is a serious escalation of the Israeli violations against Palestinian imprisoned women.
Hamas emphasized in a recent statement that these heinous crimes and the abuse of Palestinian women inside Israeli prisons are conducted in violation of all religions, laws and human values, and cannot be overlooked.
It indicated that the miserable conditions and dictatorial inspections that male and female prisoners are exposed to inside Israeli jails, including the denial of all essential needs and necessary supplies, in addition to food, medicine, clothing and blankets, are intended for deliberate moral and physical death of prisoners, which is verified by facts and figures.
Hamas called on local and international human rights and legal organizations, particularly those concerned with women’s rights, to force the Israeli occupation authority to stop its abuses against Palestinian women.
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Watch the video below about the Palestinian women in "Zionist dungeons."
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