Israel Holds 119 Palestinians on Life Terms
As of September 2026, 119 Palestinian prisoners are serving life sentences in Israeli occupation prisons, the Prisoners’ Media Office says. Some are serving a single life term. Others are serving more than one.
That figure is expected to rise. Some prisoners still have cases before Israeli military courts, which have yet to issue final sentences.
The number of prisoners serving life fell sharply under the Tufan al-Ahrar (Flood of the Free) prisoner exchange deal. It freed 503 of the 608 then serving life, while 119 remained behind bars.
Hebron has the most prisoners serving life, with 29. Nablus is second with 20, followed by Ramallah and al-Bireh with 19 and the 1948 territories with 16.
Jenin has 11 and Tulkarm eight. Bethlehem has four. Jerusalem has three, as does the governorate of Jericho and the Jordan Valley. Salfit, Qalqilya, and the Gaza Strip have two each.
What a Life Sentence Means Under Israeli Law
For Palestinian prisoners, a life sentence does not mean what it means in many legal systems.
An Israeli military court that hands down a life sentence sets no fixed term. The sentence runs for the rest of the prisoner’s life. Unlike in some civilian criminal cases inside Israel, it is not automatically set at 25 years. It stays in force until the prisoner dies or is freed through an exchange deal or an exceptional decision.
Multiple Life Sentences
Israeli courts impose multiple life sentences on a single prisoner as a matter of policy, handing down a separate life term for every person the court says was killed in the operation attributed to him.
That is why some prisoners carry dozens of life sentences. Abdullah Barghouti holds the most, at 67. Ibrahim Hamed is next with 54, then Hassan Salameh with 48. Mohammed Arman is serving 36 and Abbas al-Sayed 35.
Prominent Prisoners Serving Life
Some of the most prominent Palestinian political and factional leaders are among them.
Marwan Barghouti, a member of Fatah’s Central Committee, has been held since 2002. He is serving five life sentences.
Salameh, one of the leaders of the Martyr Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, is serving 48. Abbas Al-Sayed, from the Tulkarm governorate, is serving 35.
Latest Life Sentences
Hail Nasrallah, Ibrahim Shalhoub, and Mahmoud Jaradat are among the most recent prisoners sentenced to life after all phases of the Tufan al-Ahrar deal ended in 2025. So are Ali Dandis and Ghaith Jaradat.
Key Violations Against Prisoners Serving Life
Like other Palestinian prisoners, those serving life sentences face a series of harsh punitive measures.
Solitary confinement is one of the most prominent. Prison authorities hold some leaders of the prisoners’ movement in isolation cells for long periods to cut them off from other prisoners and weaken their organizational role.
Medical neglect is another. Authorities keep stalling on treatment for sick prisoners and deny them the care they need. Palestinian and international human rights organizations have documented the policy.
Then there are family visits. Authorities impose sweeping restrictions on them, at times banning them outright.
Detention conditions have grown harsher, too. Authorities cut back basic necessities and impose collective punishment. They move prisoners repeatedly from one prison to another and strip them of many rights the prisoners had won.
Prisoners serving life carry the heaviest sentences in the Palestinian prisoners’ movement. Most have no legal path to release. Whether their sentences ever end often comes down to exchange deals or political decisions.
