Unborn Behind Bars: Three Pregnant Palestinian Women in Damon Prison
Three pregnant Palestinian women share a single cell in Damon Prison. The room holds six detainees and two beds. Four women sleep on the floor. The bathroom has no door.
Amina Shaher al-Tawil, 37, is three months pregnant. Dana Inad Sabti Jouda, 35, is two months pregnant. Manar Ibrahim Karaja, 28, is one month pregnant. All three are held pending trial. None gets enough food or prenatal care.
The Israeli occupation has stepped up its arrest campaigns against Palestinian women since early 2026. About 90 women are now held in prisons and interrogation centers, 83 identified by name in Damon. Others remain under interrogation, and two are under house arrest.
Lawyer Hassan Abadi, who visits Damon regularly, has documented the conditions inside. The cell assigned to the three pregnant women also holds a minor and two women awaiting release. Guards confiscate basic supplies. Stench fills the room. No one gets privacy. No one should have to live this way. For women in early pregnancy, it is unbearable.
Amina Shaher al-Tawil
Israeli forces arrested Amina al-Tawil, a mother of four, on March 18, 2026, days before Eid al-Fitr. They took her in front of her children. She spent 25 days in an underground solitary cell at al-Jalama interrogation center, cut off from the world.
She endured six raids in that time. Forces threw stun grenades at the door of her cell. One blast hurled her across the room.
She was three months pregnant.
She lost about 9 kilograms during interrogation alone.
When she met with Abadi, she wore a patched prayer garment the other prisoners had stitched together for her. Clothes are so scarce in Damon that prisoners share prayer skirts, taking turns during prayer times and outdoor breaks to preserve their modesty.
Amina is one of five women journalists the occupation holds for their reporting and public commentary. Her court dates keep getting pushed back.
Dana Inad Sabti Jouda
Dana Jouda was arrested on April 19, 2026, in Iraq al-Tayeh near Nablus and taken first to Sharon Prison. She told Abadi her first night was “nightmarish”: she fainted in a cell covered in filth, was taken to a hospital for pregnancy tests, then moved to Damon. She now shares the cell with Amina.
She is two months pregnant with a medical condition that predates her arrest. She has lost weight and become dehydrated. During one raid, she lost consciousness. The guard did nothing. He told the other prisoners to lift her feet and give her water.
Dana had surgery before her arrest and has asked repeatedly for an ultrasound. The prison administration refuses. The other prisoners give up portions of their own food for Dana, Amina, and Manar because they are pregnant.
During transport to a court hearing in the “bosta,” the prisoner transfer vehicle, Dana was locked in a cramped compartment blasting loud music. She fainted again.
Manar Ibrahim Karaja
Israeli forces raided Manar Karaja’s home in Beitunia on April 30, 2026, and arrested her. She is a mother of two from Ramallah and the wife of released prisoner Musab Zalloum. After interrogation, she was transferred to Damon, where she joined Amina and Dana in the same cell.
She is one month pregnant. She needs proper nutrition, medical care, and stable conditions. None exist in Damon. No ruling has been issued in her case.
All three cases call for urgent intervention from prisoner advocacy groups, human rights organizations, and medical bodies to press for the women’s release. The state of emergency inside Israeli prisons continues. Lawyer visits face tight restrictions. Family visits are banned entirely.
The toll of these policies shows on prisoners’ bodies the moment they walk free.
