Israel holding Syrians in harsh conditions as families desperately seek answers

Syrians are being held in harsh conditions in Israeli prisons alongside Palestinians as Israel continues its attacks and incursions in southwestern Syria, an investigation by The New Arab's Arabic language edition has found.

Detainees face legal limbo, denial of contact with their families and a lack of visits, amid limited efforts by rights groups to obtain information about their whereabouts and conditions.

Samar Ibrahim Dreiby, a Syrian woman from the town of Kanaker southwest of Damascus, spent two months searching for her 17-year-old son Shadi Zeina before discovering he was being held in an Israeli prison.

Shadi disappeared during an Israeli assault on Kanaker on 29 July 2025. Dreiby contacted dozens of Palestinian detainees who had been released from Israeli prisons, sending them photos of her son through various messaging apps.

Eventually, one former detainee recognised Shadi and informed her that he was being held at Ofer Prison near Ramallah in the occupied West Bank.

"We left no place unsearched, with no result, until despair crept into our hearts. Someone suggested we look for him in the [Israeli] occupation's prisons. At first, the idea was shocking and unacceptable to us. Why would he be there?" she told Al-Araby Al-Jadeed.

Dreiby then joined messaging groups created by families of Palestinian prisoners and contacted newly released detainees whenever she learned of their release. One of them, Wael Abd Rabbo, from a refugee camp near Ramallah, confirmed that her son was being held in Ofer Prison and that he had met him there.

She had previously contacted the Israeli human rights organisation HaMoked through the Red Cross, which also confirmed that Shadi was in Israeli custody.

Abd Rabbo said he was initially stunned to discover that Shadi was Syrian.

"When I first spoke with Shadi, I thought he was joking and imitating a Syrian accent, until I realised he really was Syrian. It was a surprise to me," he said. "After my release, I received a flood of messages from families asking about their children. One of them was from his mother. I felt great joy, because I didn’t know how I would reach his family, and they reached me."

Abd Rabbo said he later met at least five other Syrians in prison, all of whom were subjected to the same abuse faced by Palestinian detainees. Palestinian prisoners have reported widespread torture, starvation and sexual abuse in Israeli jails.

With great difficulty, Al-Araby Al-Jadeed also spoke to another Syrian detainee who spent seven months in Israeli prisons. The former prisoner, who requested anonymity, described his experience as a "nightmare".

He said he learned weeks after his arrest that he was being held at the Sde Teiman detention camp in southern Israel, where hundreds of Palestinians from Gaza have been detained and subjected to torture and sexual violence.

The detainee said he was held for four months without charge or a court appearance and subjected to continuous physical and psychological abuse, including "severe beatings, stress positions for long hours, painful restraints and placement in solitary confinement", in addition to insults and threats.

He was later transferred to Ofer Prison, where he remained for nearly two months. There, interrogations began alongside prolonged sleep deprivation. Each session lasted between five and six hours and took place almost daily.

In Syria, local sources and activists have documented dozens of arrests of Syrians by Israeli forces in recent months, particularly in villages in the Yarmouk Basin and areas near the line separating the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights from the rest of Syria.

Some arrests occurred during Israeli incursions, while others involved ambushes or the abduction of civilians from their workplaces or while travelling.

After the fall of the Assad regime in December 2024, Israel moved into southwestern Syria and occupied areas beyond the Golan Heights, which it seized in 1967.

It unilaterally declared that the 1974 disengagement agreement with Syria was no longer in effect and has since carried out hundreds of airstrikes and incursions into Syrian territory.

Many Syrians detained by Israel remain of "unknown fate", with no information about their place of detention or legal status. In some cases, detainees have been released after weeks or months without charge.

The Palestinian Commission of Detainees' and Ex-Detainees' Affairs told Al-Araby Al-Jadeed that it was following up on the issue of Syrian detainees and repeatedly attempted to arrange visits, but Israeli authorities have so far denied permission.