Israel is holding 49 Palestinian women, including two minors and one detainee from Gaza, who are facing systematic abuse in prisons and interrogation centres, the Palestinian Prisoners' Society (PPS) said on Sunday.
In a statement marking Palestinian Women's National Day on Sunday, the group said that these abuses had intensified to "unprecedented levels" since the start of what it called Israel's genocidal war on Gaza -the most violent period in modern Palestinian history, leaving lasting scars on female detainees.
According to the PPS, the conditions of imprisonment have drastically worsened since October 2023, accompanied by "a series of grave violations" committed by Israeli prison authorities.
These include torture, starvation, deliberate medical neglect, sexual assaults such as strip searches and harassment by female guards, and psychological terror through threats of rape, humiliation, and beatings during repeated raids.
Testimonies collected by the group detail forced kneeling while handcuffed, verbal abuse, and continuous psychological torture from the moment of arrest.
The PPS said the treatment of Palestinian women prisoners forms part of Israel's "ongoing genocidal war", documenting more than 595 arrests of women in the West Bank, including Jerusalem and inside Israel, since October 2023.
It said the number of women detained from Gaza remains unclear, though dozens were believed to be held at Damon Prison.
Among the 49 female prisoners currently held are cancer patient Fida Assaf, Gaza detainee Tasneem al-Hams, and minors Sally Sadaqa and Hanaa Hammad, with the latter also held under administrative detention. Twelve women are being held without charge or trial. The highest number of detainees is from Hebron, at 14. The longest-serving prisoners are Shatila Abu Ayada and Aya al-Khatib, both detained before the current war and from inside Israel.
The PPS said Israel has increasingly used the detention of women as hostages to pressure their relatives, including the wives of prisoners, mothers of slain Palestinians, and elderly women over 70. Arrest raids are often accompanied by home destruction, property seizures, and threats to kill relatives.
At Hasharon Prison, female prisoners reported being held in filthy cells lacking basic necessities, subjected to strip searches, beatings for resisting them, and given spoiled food and worn-out mattresses.
In Damon Prison, the prison administration reportedly weaponised basic hygiene and clothing needs, withheld sanitary pads, and denied heating in winter and ventilation in summer. Family visits and access to lawyers have also been suspended.
The group said that since September 2024, sexual violence, physical assaults, and humiliating strip searches have escalated sharply, alongside group isolation and punitive transfers.
Most women, it added, are detained for social media posts or political expression, accused of "incitement", while others are held under administrative detention based on undisclosed "secret files".
The PPS called the situation of female prisoners "unprecedented in its brutality", saying it reflects the "savage repressive structure" of Israel's prison system based on systematic torture and degradation.
The organisation renewed its appeal to international human rights bodies to take concrete action to hold Israeli leaders accountable for war crimes against Palestinians, impose international sanctions, and end what it called Israel’s "culture of impunity".