🔴 April 22: Arab Prisoners’ Day
🔴 Palestinian Prisoner’s Society: Unprecedented Spike in Detention of Arab Prisoners Since Gaza Genocide

April 22, 2026

Ramallah, occupied Palestine – April 22 marks Arab Prisoner’s Day, amid a dangerous escalation in the issue of Arab prisoners in Israeli occupation prisons. This comes just days after Palestinian Prisoners’ Day marked on April 17, during what is considered one of the bloodiest and harshest phases in the history of the prisoners’ movement.

The Palestinian Prisoners’ Society (PPS) confirmed that the issue of Arab prisoners has undergone an unprecedented shift following the crime of genocide, with their numbers rising significantly. Available estimates indicate that they number in the dozens, most of them from Syria and Lebanon. They were detained after the genocide and are held in several central prisons, under deliberate secrecy by the occupation authorities, which continue to withhold information about their true numbers and fate.

The PPS added that the issue of Arab prisoners represents a pivotal chapter in the history of the Palestinian prisoners’ struggle. Their sacrifices and experiences form an integral part of the Palestinian narrative of resistance, and the demand for their freedom is a natural extension of the broader struggle for freedom led by Palestinian prisoners.

It also pointed out that the occupation imposes intensified isolation on Arab prisoners and systematically obstructs access by human rights organizations and legal teams, in an attempt to keep them beyond any oversight. These prisoners face compounded violations, including enforced disappearance, systematic torture, policies of starvation, isolation, deprivation, and ongoing assaults in various forms.

The PPS saluted all families of Arab prisoners, affirming that their cause remains a central pillar of its mission until their freedom is achieved.

It is worth noting that the number of Palestinian and Arab political prisoners in occupation prisons has exceeded 9,600 people as of early April, about half of whom are held without any charges under administrative detention policies, one of the most prominent tools of systematic repression.

United Against Execution and Genocide