On International Women’s Day, 72 Palestinian Women Remain in Occupation Prisons 

Seventy-two Palestinian women sit in Israeli occupation prisons as the world marks International Women’s Day. Thirty-two of them are mothers. Three are children under 18. One gave birth in detention after authorities refused to release her; she and her newborn remain held at Damon Prison.

The Palestine Center for Prisoner Studies released the figures on March 8 in a report detailing what it called a sharp escalation in the targeting of Palestinian women over the past two years. Since the genocidal war on Gaza began, more than 700 women have been detained, the Center said, including minors, elderly women, university students, and freed prisoners re-arrested multiple times. The broader pattern stretches back decades: more than 17,000 Palestinian women have been arrested since 1967.

Riad al-Ashqar, the Center’s director, said the occupation systematically targets Palestinian women because they form the backbone of Palestinian society as mothers, educators, and the families of martyrs, prisoners, and resistance fighters.

The pretexts for arrest are often absurdly thin. Al-Ashqar said the occupation uses what it calls “incitement” to justify detaining women for expressing an opinion on social media, mourning a relative killed by occupation forces, or posting photos and videos that document occupation crimes. Women have recently been arrested for filming the Iranian strikes on occupied territories.

Seventeen of the 72 women are held under administrative detention, locked up without charge. Most of the rest are still awaiting trial, the majority facing incitement charges tied to social media posts. Eighteen prisoners suffer from illnesses, three of them cancer. More than 10 are university students.

Abuse begins at the point of arrest. Women are dragged from their homes after midnight in violent raids as their children scream. They are blindfolded, handcuffed, and verbally abused before being taken to interrogation centers. There, al-Ashqar said, they face systematic torture, degrading treatment, and coerced confessions designed to break their will.

After interrogation comes Damon Prison.

Conditions inside are severe: starvation, medical neglect, sexual harassment, strip searches, overcrowding. Guards storm the women’s sections and fire sound grenades and tear gas. Prisoners are denied clothing and winter blankets. Family visits have been suspended for more than 29 consecutive months.

Hundreds of Palestinian women from the Gaza Strip have been detained since October 7, 2023. Many were released after interrogation and torture. Some endured serious violations during their detention. An unknown number remain imprisoned under what the Center described as enforced disappearance. The occupation periodically releases one or two, confirming that women from Gaza are still being held with their fates unknown.

The Center dismissed the international community’s proclaimed commitment to women’s rights as hollow rhetoric, saying these principles have never extended to Palestinian women. International institutions that claim to champion women’s rights have offered no meaningful solidarity, al-Ashqar said, even as the occupation carries out a relentless campaign of arrest, killing, and violations against Palestinian women.

The Palestine Center renewed its call on international institutions to abandon their double standards and take serious action to curb the occupation’s crimes against Palestinian women, pressing for the release of those detained on baseless charges without indictments.