Israeli Prisons: A Venue for Torture and Politicide

Strategic Insights -

In the past few months, two young Palestinian lives have been brutally extinguished inside Israeli prisons. Ahmad Saeed Tazazaa, 20 years old, died on August 3, 2025, and just months earlier, Walid Khaled Abdullah Ahmad, 16 years old, was killed on March 24. The autopsies revealed that both boys suffered from extreme physical abuse, with evidence of starvation, beatings, and electric shocks. These cruel deaths are part of a broader context of Israel's disregard for human life and international law, as the country continues to shred the Oslo Accord, conduct ethnic cleansing in Gaza, and tortures Palestinians in its prisons.

Key Takeaways:

  • Since October 2023, 76 Palestinian prisoners have died in custody, with over 2000 killed by Israeli forces at food distribution points.
  • The Palestinian Prisoners' Society has documented the harsh conditions in Israeli prisons, including physical and psychological exhaustion, with prisoners being deprived of their humanity.
  • Israeli prison guards have been accused of using electric shocks, including specialized stun guns, to subject detainees to severe torture.
  • Raed Abu al-Hummus, head of the Palestinian Commission, noted that the goal of this violence is to wear down prisoners emotionally, push them into psychological collapse, and break their sense of self.
  • Senior Palestinian political leaders, such as Marwan Barghouti and Ahmad Sa'adat, are held in special isolation sections in Magiddo prison, with Barghouti having been beaten in his cell until his ribs broke.
  • The Israeli government's actions are seen as part of a broader politicide, the death of politics, aimed at preventing the development of a focal point in Palestinian society that would revitalise Palestinian politics.

Statistics:

  • Over 10,800 Palestinian prisoners are held in Israeli jails.
  • Since 1967, 320 political prisoners have died inside Israeli prisons.
  • In 2025, the Palestinian Prisoners' Society published a report detailing the state of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.
  • Since October 2023, 76 Palestinian prisoners have died in custody.
  • Over 2000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces at food distribution points.

Sources:

  • The Palestinian Prisoners' Society (August 12, 2025)
  • The Palestinian Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs
  • Al-Haq: Defending Human Rights
  • Addameer: Prisoners Support and Human Rights Association
  • The Inter-Parliamentary Union
  • Israeli military commander of the West Bank (November 2021)