Samer Khaweireh

Emaciated Palestinian detainees are emerging from Israeli prisons with harrowing stories of hunger and abuse, five months after Israel’s Supreme Court ordered authorities to improve food conditions. Former prisoners say little has changed. Their accounts describe extreme weight loss, illness, and a daily battle simply to eat enough to survive.

Samer Khawaireh, 45, told Reuters that during nine months in Israel’s Megiddo and Nafha prisons he was given just ten thin pieces of bread a day. He said the meals came with small amounts of hummus and tahini. Twice a week, there was some tuna.

Videos on Khawaireh’s phone show him at normal weight before his arrest in Nablus last April. Footage after his release shows him clearly emaciated. He said he lost 22 kg, or 49 pounds, during captivity.

Khawaireh said he emerged a month ago covered in scabies sores. He was so gaunt and dishevelled that his 9-year-old son Azadeen did not recognise him. The transformation shocked his family.

Reuters could not independently verify his exact diet or the reasons for his extreme weight loss. The agency also could not determine how widespread food shortages are among Israel’s prison system. About 9,000 Palestinians are currently held in Israeli jails.

However, Khawaireh’s account matches reports compiled by lawyers after prison visits. Reuters reviewed 13 reports from December and January. In them, 27 prisoners complained of a lack of food. Most said provisions had not changed since the Supreme Court ruling.

The Association for Civil Rights in Israel, which helped bring last year’s landmark case, has accused the government of a “policy of starvation” in prisons. The Israel Prisons Service rejected allegations of starvation or systematic neglect. It said nutrition and medical care are provided according to professional standards.

The service said it operates in line with the law and court rulings. It added that all complaints are investigated through official channels. Khawaireh was held without charge and said he was never told why he was detained. Israel’s military declined to comment.

Monitoring conditions has become harder since the Gaza war began. Israel barred prison visits by the International Committee of the Red Cross. ACRI has asked the Supreme Court to restore Red Cross access and to hold the prison service in contempt for failing to comply with last September’s order.

“All the indications that we’re getting are that not much has changed,” said ACRI executive director Noa Sattath. She said prisoners remain hungry and are not receiving additional food or medical examinations. The Supreme Court did not comment.

Detentions surged after the Hamas-led attacks on October 7, 2023. Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who oversees prisons, has publicly criticised courts and shut prison bakeries, saying he wanted to cancel “benefits and indulgences.” He did not respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.

At least 101 Palestinians have died in Israeli custody since the start of the Gaza war, according to Physicians for Human Rights Israel. Among them was 17-year-old Walid Ahmed, whose lawyers say he died after illness linked to malnutrition. His autopsy cited prolonged malnutrition, starvation, infection, and dehydration as possible causes.

Rights groups warn that chronic hunger weakens immune systems and leaves detainees vulnerable to serious illness. Former detainees say they sometimes saved bread for one day a week, just to feel full. The court order stands, but accounts suggest the hunger has not ended.

Key Takeaways

• Former detainees say hunger persists despite a Supreme Court order.

• Rights groups accuse Israel of a prison “policy of starvation.”

• At least 101 Palestinians have died in custody since the Gaza war began.

Israeli court ordered prisons to give Palestinian detainees more food. They are still hungry

If only the world wasn't watching Israel would have their own Auschwitzes and Buchenwaldes dialed up to number 11.

Pure systematic evil. Not surprising, given that the PM has international ICC warrants out for his arrest on charges of War crimes and Crimes against humanity.

Anyone who doubts this isn't blatant racism?