🔴 Among Them Two Children and Three Pregnant Women: Occupation Escalates Crimes Against Palestinian Female Prisoners in Damon Prison

May 10, 2026

🔴 Palestinian Prisoner’s Society

Ramallah, occupied Palestine – The Palestinian Prisoner’s Society stated that the period coinciding with the recent genocide witnessed a significant escalation inside prisons, particularly in the frequency of systematic repression operations. Damon Prison is considered one of the main prisons where these operations have intensified, as it holds the majority of the 88 female prisoners, in addition to others detained in interrogation and detention centers. Among the prisoners are two minor females and three women in the early months of pregnancy, who were recently arrested on charges the occupation claims as “incitement.”

In a statement issued today, Sunday, the PPS added that, based on testimonies from female prisoners inside the prison and others who were recently released, repression units affiliated with the Israeli Prison Service carried out no fewer than ten repression raids during March and April 2026. These raids involved severe beatings, forcing prisoners to lie on the ground, tying their hands behind their backs, and deliberately assaulting them while restrained, by both male and female guards. This resulted in bruises and various injuries to several prisoners.

The repression operations were recorded on the following dates: 28/2/2026, 5/3/2026, 10/3/2026, 17/3/2026, 30/3/2026, 1/4/2026, 3/4/2026, 17/4/2026, 21/4/2026, and 23/4/2026.

The PPS continued that, alongside these repression operations—which reached unprecedented levels against female prisoners compared with the period following the genocide—policies of isolation also escalated. At least six female prisoners were subjected to solitary confinement, including some who remained isolated for more than two weeks.

The prisoners also pointed to severe overcrowding in the cells, especially with the escalation of systematic and ongoing arrest campaigns. Some cells now hold more than 10 female prisoners, most of whom are forced to sleep on the floor. Starvation has also emerged as one of the most prominent policies repeatedly mentioned in prisoners’ testimonies, particularly during periods coinciding with the occupation’s holidays. One prisoner lost around 30 kilograms after several months of detention.

The PPS explained that all female prisoners confirmed the continuation of a number of policies that have become routine practices since the genocide, including strip searches, especially when transferred to HaSharon Prison as a temporary detention station or upon entry to Damon Prison, where they are subjected to degrading and humiliating searches. Strip searches are considered one of the most widespread practices and a form of sexual abuse used against both male and female prisoners.

The PPS also noted that a number of female prisoners suffer from chronic health conditions, including two prisoners with cancer who are being denied treatment amid a continuous deterioration in their health conditions.

The PPS added that the majority of the female prisoners are detained either on charges the occupation describes as “incitement” or under administrative detention based on what is referred to as a “secret file.”

In this context, the PPS renewed its demand for the release of female prisoners detained arbitrarily, especially minors, sick prisoners, and pregnant women, and called for an end to all forms of organized crimes and violations against them, which constitute one aspect of the ongoing genocide against prisoners.

It is worth noting that, following the genocide, the Israeli occupation’s prison system imposed unprecedented conditions inside prisons by entrenching a structural system of torture based on starvation, abuse, and assaults of various forms, including sexual abuse, in addition to environmental conditions contributing to the spread of diseases and epidemics. This has been accompanied by organized policies of deprivation and isolation of prisoners from the outside world, as well as the continued prevention of family visits.

The number of Palestinian political prisoners currently held in Israeli occupation prisons is reported to exceed 9,400 people. 

👇For further reading, attached is the prisoner institutions’ report issued on 8 March on the occasion of International Women’s Day 2026:

https://ppsmo.ps/home/studies/18138?culture=ar-SA