Over 11,000 Palestinians are being detained in Israeli prisons, a record number, an Israeli human rights organization has said.
According to Israel Prison Service (IPS) data until September 1 compiled by NGO HaMoked, a record 11,040 Palestinians are currently held in Israeli detention.
The number of detainees has surged since November 2023, the month after the ongoing Israeli offensive in Gaza began in response to Hamas terror attacks on southern Israel.
More than half the detainees are being held outside regular judicial proceedings, without charge or having been found guilty of any crime, the NGO said.
Some 3,577 “administrative detainees” are in jail without trial, while another 2,662 have been detained as “unlawful combatants,” a category which does not exist in international law, HaMoked explained.
What is an ‘unlawful combatant’?
Israel defines an “unlawful combatant” as someone who has taken part in “hostile acts” against it or belongs to “a force perpetrating hostile acts” against the State of Israel.
Protections allowed to prisoners of war under the Geneva Convention “do not apply” to unlawful combatants, HaMoked said.
The NGO also pointed out that the record number of detainees does not include people from the Gaza Strip held by the Israeli military.
“Israel’s treatment of security inmates violates their rights to equality, dignity, family life, education, and more, in contravention of international law,” the NGO said.
Suspects under administrative detention can be held for security reasons for six months or longer without being charged.
Detainees and their lawyers are not allowed to view evidence and cannot defend themselves because their administrative detention is based mainly on classified intelligence information, HaMoked said.
Israel’s domestic intelligence agency Shin Bet says the detentions are needed to fight terrorism, but human rights groups have for decades been calling on Israel to end the practice.
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