ICSPR Sends Urgent Briefing to International Entities Regarding the Escalation of Israeli Crimes Against Palestinian Detainees and the Death of Detainee Khalil Haniyeh
Date: April 14, 2025
Press Release
ICSPR Sends Urgent Briefing to International Entities Regarding the Escalation of Israeli Crimes Against Palestinian Detainees and the Death of Detainee Khalil Haniyeh
The International Commission to Support Palestinian Rights (ICSPR) has submitted an urgent legal briefing to several prominent international bodies and figures, in light of the escalating Israeli violations against Palestinian detainees and prisoners, most recently the death of detainee Khalil Haniyeh from the Gaza Strip due to torture and ill-treatment inside Israeli detention centers.
The briefing was addressed to the Secretary-General of the United Nations, the UN Special Envoy, the President of the Human Rights Council, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, and the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967. The aim was to inform these entities of the ongoing and systematic violations perpetrated by the Israeli occupation authorities against Palestinian prisoners and to urge immediate action to ensure accountability and compliance with international humanitarian law.
The briefing highlighted that the issue of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails remains one of the most pressing humanitarian and political concerns in the context of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The Israeli policy of mass arbitrary detention is employed as a tool of repression and control over the Palestinian people, in blatant violation of international law, particularly the Geneva Conventions and international human rights law.
According to ICSPR’s monitoring, the number of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails has reached approximately 9,500, including 350 children and 26 women. Moreover, more than 3,500 administrative detainees are being held without formal charges or fair trials. The briefing also noted that thousands of detainees from Gaza have been imprisoned under mysterious circumstances, subjected to enforced disappearance, and hundreds have been classified as “unlawful combatants”—a clear violation of international legal safeguards. International organizations and the families of the detainees have been denied access to visit them or to receive any information about their whereabouts or conditions of detention.
The briefing outlined a range of crimes and violations taking place inside Israeli prisons, starting with systematic torture. Detainees are subjected to severe forms of physical and psychological torture during interrogations, including beatings, abuse, humiliation, sexual harassment, rape, and even being used as human shields. Several detainees have been extrajudicially executed while in detention, including Dr. Adnan Al-Barsh, Dr. Iyad Al-Rantisi, Dr. Ziyad Al-Dalu, and Ashour Al-Batsh. Most recently, detainee Khalil Haniyeh died as a result of continuous torture, raising the number of Palestinian detainees who have died in custody since October 7, 2023, to no fewer than 67, including 47 from Gaza. The names and circumstances of death for many detainees from Gaza remain unknown due to their continued enforced disappearance.
The briefing also shed light on the issue of deliberate medical neglect. It included testimonies of critical medical cases, such as that of detainee Mohammad Rayan (24 years old), who has completely lost his right hand and several fingers on his left hand, suffers from severe bone pain, and is experiencing extreme malnutrition, with prison authorities failing to provide any medical care. Another documented case is that of detainee Abdul Hafiz Ghazawi (25 years old), who suffers from a severe skin disease causing intense itching and rashes, yet is denied treatment by the prison administration—amounting to a grave violation of his health and human rights.
The briefing pointed out the use of solitary confinement as a harsh punitive measure. Detainees are held in small, isolated cells with no contact with the outside world, fellow prisoners, or even their legal counsel, which leads to a severe deterioration in their physical and psychological condition.
Children and women detainees are also subjected to serious violations. There are approximately 350 children and 26 women in detention, held under inhumane conditions. These children face physical and psychological abuse and are denied their basic legal rights, such as access to legal representation and contact with their families—violating the Convention on the Rights of the Child and other international instruments.
In conclusion, ICSPR urged all relevant bodies to take concrete and effective steps, including launching urgent investigations into the reported violations, ensuring accountability and preventing impunity, and exerting political and legal pressure on the Israeli occupation authorities to cease their crimes against Palestinian prisoners and to respect their obligations under international humanitarian and human rights law.
