Dozens of Children Left Without Mothers as Israel Detains 51 Palestinian Women
Dozens of Palestinian children are growing up without their mothers, who remain held in Israeli prisons with no family visits permitted for more than two years.
The Palestine Center for Prisoner Studies reports that 23 of the 51 Palestinian women currently detained are mothers. Some left behind infants who were still nursing when their mothers were taken. None have been allowed to see their children since October 7, 2023, when Israel declared a comprehensive state of emergency and suspended all prison visits as the war on Gaza began.
The visiting ban has now stretched 28 consecutive months.
The women experience what the Center describes as profound anxiety about their children’s wellbeing, particularly those under 10 years old, and most acutely those three and younger who need maternal care and presence.
Births Behind Bars
Israeli authorities have not only detained mothers but also arrested pregnant women. While some were later released, others have been forced to give birth inside prison walls, alone and without family support.
The most recent case involves Tahani Abu Samhan from inside Israel’s 1948 borders. Authorities arrested her while six months pregnant on incitement charges and refused requests to release her for delivery. She gave birth inside Damon Prison and named her son Yahya. He is now considered the youngest prisoner in Israeli detention.
Mothers Battling Cancer
Two imprisoned mothers are fighting cancer while cut off from their families. Fida Assaf, 47, from Qalqilya, suffers from leukemia. Suhair Zaaqiq from Hebron has fibroids and cancerous masses. Their children live in constant fear for their mothers’ lives, the Center states, under what it calls a policy of deliberate medical neglect.
Arrest Numbers Rising
The number of detained Palestinian women has reached 51, according to the Center, which has documented approximately 650 cases of women and girls arrested from the West Bank, Jerusalem, and inside Israel since October 7, 2023. This figure excludes women detained from Gaza, estimated in the dozens, who are held in military-run facilities without oversight.
Most women are held on charges of “incitement,” a vague accusation the Center says is used to justify midnight raids. Soldiers storm homes, destroy property during searches as children scream, then bind the women’s hands and blindfold them before transporting them to interrogation centers where they face physical assault.
Conditions Inside Damon Prison
Women held at Damon Prison are denied basic necessities, with conditions deteriorating sharply since the war began. Food arrives in small quantities and is sometimes unfit to eat. Surveillance cameras monitor every space, including recreation yards and corridors.
The Center reports that authorities have intensified raids and physical assaults against the women, including beatings, tear gas, and stun grenades. Prisoners face verbal abuse, isolation, starvation, and medical neglect.
Call for International Action
The Palestine Center for Prisoner Studies is calling on international human rights organizations, particularly those focused on women’s issues, to take genuine action to end the detention of Palestinian women, especially mothers forcibly separated from their children. The Center urges intervention to halt what it describes as repressive practices against women prisoners at Damon Prison.
