Palestinian Prisoner’s Society

🔴 Occupation Forces Use Image of Palestinian Political Prisoner in Solitary to Threaten, Intimidate Palestinians During Field Interrogations

🔴 Over 60 Palestinians Detained, Subject to Field Interrogations & Abuse Across West Bank Overnight; Several Hospitalized Amid Physical Assault 

October 21, 2026  

Ramallah, occupied Palestine – The Palestinian Prisoner’s Society (PPS) said Israeli occupation forces displayed an image of Palestinian political prisoner Ibrahim Hamed inside his solitary confinement cell while conducting field interrogations of dozens of Palestinians in the town of Silwad, near Ramallah, on Tuesday night. During the interrogations, occupation forces threatened civilians over Hamed’s fate in prison.

The PPS said the tactic goes beyond direct intimidation, forming part of a broader effort to instill fear and shape Palestinian collective consciousness by exploiting images of imprisoned Palestinians and the abuses they endure behind bars. It also seeks to undermine the standing of Palestinian resistance figures in the public consciousness by associating them with fear, punishment, and the threat of what awaits them inside Israeli prisons.

This practice reveals further dimensions of the occupation’s policies of subjugating Palestinians. These policies come amid an escalation in crimes and violations against detainees, including torture, solitary confinement, and deprivation of basic rights.

What happened in Silwad forms part of a broader pattern of practices targeting Palestinians’ freedom, dignity, and consciousness. Arrests, interrogations, and physical and psychological harm are used as means of exerting pressure in an attempt to instill fear in individuals and their surrounding communities.

On Tuesday evening, occupation forces raided the town of Silwad, east of Ramallah, detained approximately 25 civilians, and subjected them to field interrogations accompanied by beatings and abuse. Three civilians were subsequently taken to hospital as a result of the assaults they had suffered.

In the same context, more than 60 Palestinians in several towns and areas across the West Bank were detained between Tuesday night and Wednesday morning. Most were subsequently released. In addition to Silwad, these operations included the towns of Immatin, Beit Dajan, Beit Furik, and Al-Fawwar refugee camp.

Among those detained was Yamen Amro from Dura, near Hebron. He was arrested at 3 a.m., after spending the day by his father’s side, who was suffering from cancer. According to the family, his father died at 6 a.m. Yamen was denied the opportunity to say goodbye to his father and was not informed of his death.

The PPS noted that field interrogations have increasingly been used during raids as a means of abusing civilians, involving detention, physical assaults, and psychological pressure that expose them to violations and undermine their dignity and safety. It emphasized that the subsequent release of most of those targeted does not diminish the seriousness of what they endured during detention and interrogation, nor does it erase the physical and psychological consequences of these practices.

The PPS stressed that targeting civilians through these methods, alongside the escalating crimes against prisoners inside jails, reflects the interconnected nature of the policies employed by the occupation against Palestinians both inside and outside prisons. These policies represent attempts to impose a system of intimidation and subjugation that affects both individual Palestinians and Palestinian society as a whole.