Former inmates and several rights groups claim that circumstances inside Israeli jails for Palestinians altered suddenly last October, following Operation Al-Aqsa Flood.
Palestinian leader Marwan Barghouti is regarded as a uniting figure in Palestinian society throughout his 24 years in prison. This may be why the Israeli occupation is punishing him even further following October 7.
According to The Guardian, Barghouti is isolated with no means to treat his wounds and injuries after being dragged with his wrists shackled behind his back.
He is sleep-deprived on purpose due to the lighting in his cell, and he has been denied access to books, newspapers, or television since last October. His lawyer Igal Dotan visited Barghouti in the Israeli Megiddo prison two months ago and reported that he had lost weight and was unrecognizable.
"Israel" imprisoned Barghouti on five charges of murder and ordering assaults on civilians, according to The Guardian, which he categorically denied.
Dotan reported that Barghouti is very strong mentally, but physically, his health is deteriorating as he struggles to see out of his right eye after a brutal beating.
Since October, the Palestinian jail population has nearly quadrupled, with Israeli troops conducting daily raids across the West Bank, arresting more than 8,755 Palestinians, as of May 16, according to the Palestinian Detainees and Ex-Detainees Commission.
Abuses have increased as the number of Palestinians in Israeli jails has grown, with many squeezed into overcrowded cells. Former prisoners described frequent beatings and physical assaults, as well as a lack of necessities such as food, clean clothes, reading materials, warm blankets, hygiene items, and medical treatment.
Qadura Fares, head of the Palestinian Detainees and Ex-Detainees Commission, stated that Israelis are attempting to take revenge on Palestinians following October 7, citing that Barghouti may be targeted "specifically" due to his potential as a future leader.
The leader relayed to his attorneys that he had been assaulted and beaten until he lost consciousness, with his attorney recalling numerous bruises on his body, a probable dislocated shoulder, and constant pain.
Barghouti has been relocated to 3 different locations and last December, his lawyer recounted how he was “dragged on the floor naked in front of other prisoners" in Ayalon prison.
Tal Steiner, of the rights group the Public Committee Against Torture in "Israel", stated that what he faced amounts to "torture", something that has "become a standard" in Israeli prisons after October 7.
Steiner further called the abuse "unprecedented" and that PCATI has gathered 19 statements from Palestinian detainees detailing physical abuse, sexual or other forms of humiliation, and sleep, food, and medical deprivation.
The Israeli chapter of Physicians for Human Rights documented at least ten fatalities in prison since October, including five when its physicians attended the autopsy. Two autopsies revealed "severe signs of violence and assault," while another determined that the particular cause of death was medical negligence.
At least four incidents included potentially fatal denials of medical treatment, including the death of 25-year-old Arafat Hamdan, who needed insulin to control his diabetes and died in custody two days after his arrest in October.
Days ago, Palestinian detainees were released from the Negev Prison, considered the most dangerous Israeli prison, and the testimonies they gave unveiled the inhumane and harsh conditions that the prisoners and detainees have been subjected to by the Israeli prison administration.
Former detainees reported tales of a shortage of food and a significant weight loss in prison. Menus provided by the Israeli prison service demonstrate that Palestinian detainees, referred to as "security prisoners" in the papers, are fed a different diet than other prisoners, with no meat or the option to purchase extra food from the cafeteria.
Omar Assaf, a 74-year-old, called what he saw in Ofer prison "unprecedented", describing meager amounts of food and prisoners being injured with rubber bullets with no treatments offered for their wounds.
“We could hear them being attacked with dogs. We heard them screaming,” he described.
Steiner expressed that there were multiple reports of "extreme torture and ill-treatment," calling it the "Israeli Guantanamo", citing forced disappearances.
According to Dotan, the cruel prison practices are directed by Itamar Ben-Gvir.