Hanan Al-Barghouti: 60-Year-Old Detained Woman for Third Time in Retaliatory Campaign
Israeli prison authorities continue to impose harsh measures on female detainees at Damon Prison, where conditions mirror those faced by male prisoners: periodic cell raids, daily handcuffing during transfers to recreation yards, frequent searches, and collective punishment. The specific needs of women detainees go unaddressed.
Hanan Al-Barghouti, 60, from Kobar in the Ramallah district, is among those held under these conditions. Her repeated detention appears to violate the terms of the Freedom Agreement reached in November 2023. She and other female detainees face systematic restrictions including continuous handcuffing and cell raids. She has witnessed several large-scale enforcement operations, most notably raids on Room 10 on October 13, 2025, and on Room 5 on October 5 and October 7, 2025.
Prison staff subject detainees to daily verbal abuse. Communication between cells is prohibited, with violations immediately punished. During evening counts, female detainees must sit on the floor. At midday counts, they kneel facing the wall.
Al-Barghouti has been arrested three times. Israeli forces first detained her on September 4, 2023. She was released two months later under the November 2023 exchange agreement. Authorities re-arrested her in March 2024 and held her under administrative detention for nine months before releasing her in December 2024. On September 30, 2025, she was arrested again.
One month after her latest arrest, authorities converted her file to administrative status. She now faces a three-month administrative detention order plus three additional weeks, held without charge and with no limit on potential extensions.
Al-Barghouti comes from a prominent activist family. Her brother is the palestinian leader, Abu Asif Al-Barghouti. Another brother, Nael Al-Barghouti, spent decades in Israeli custody before his release. She is known for her work supporting the families of prisoners and those killed in the conflict (Palestinian martyrs). That advocacy, her family says, is why she keeps being detained.
