Palestinian Detainees in Israel Receive Water for only 45 Minutes Daily
Detainees held by Israel’s Ofer Prison in the occupied West Bank, which is in Area C, live in more intolerable conditions. A Palestinian body disclosed on Thursday these detainees are only given water for forty-five minutes.
At least the measurement (The Commission of Detainees’ Affairs statement on Israel’s prisons disclosing deteriorating conditions) was difficult, complex, and worsening.
The organization’s sources indicate that detainees of Ofer Prison suffer several strains, including water rationing for a few hours. The statement continued that the detainees are allowed only 45 minutes of access to water. The limited water reach forces the prisoners to conserve water strictly, even for drinking, washing, and showering, since the facility has no water storage systems.
Besides the water problem, the detainees endure frequent and extended power outages; for instance, electricity is switched off at 10 in the evening and is only restored the following midday. It is stated that the food served to them is of lower quantity and quality, making the situation even worse.
The prisoners interviewed told the Commission that several of them have been physically assaulted, including being beaten and mistreated, on different occasions, including when their lawyers visited them. The organization kept on revealing the high physical toll of these conditions on the detainees, using words like, “All the detainees are experiencing weight loss resulting from the starvation policy of Israel. ”
Hearing additional information from Ibrahim Najajreh, the head of the Commission’s office in Hebron, it was learned that at least 1,500 Palestinian detainees are in the Ofer Prison. He expounded on the dire conditions, arguing that a detainee must ration the daily available water because they cannot store it.
In a broader perspective, working jointly with the Palestinian Prisoners Society, the Commission of Detainees’ Affairs reported that more than 10,100 Palestinians have been taken into the Israeli occupation forces’ detention in the West Bank since October 7, 2023. In the same period, the Palestinian Ministry of Health said that at least 635 Palestinians were killed and nearly 5400 others were injured by Israeli military operations in the occupied land.
This bleak picture of the conditions and treatment of Palestinians in Israeli jails is examined against the background of continuing ‘legal and political discourse.’ On July 19, 2023, the United Nations’ highest court, the International Court of Justice, ruled that Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory for more than four decades was unlawful. The ICJ demanded the removal of all of the Israeli settlements in the West Bank and eastern Jerusalem to increase the interest of the international community in the violation of human rights.
People smuggled into Ofer Prison and other similar facilities remain in poor health. As the situation gets worse, more human and international organizations start expressing concern about the plight of detained Palestinians and the effects of Israel’s occupation on them.
