Palestinian women face abuse in Israeli jail, media office says

By Nour Abuaisha and Lina Altawell

GAZA CITY/ISTANBUL (AA) – Palestinian women detained in Israel’s Damon Prison in Haifa face abuse, including beatings and the forcible removal of their headscarves, the Prisoners’ Media Office said Monday.

A statement by the office said prison guards forced the detained women into the yard, made them sit on the ground, removed their headscarves and assaulted them.

Dogs and stun grenades were also used against the women, the statement said, calling the abuse a “blatant violation of all humanitarian laws and norms.”

Several detainees were injured as a result of the assaults, which were carried out on four separate occasions in December, the office said.

It held Israel fully responsible for the safety of the women detainees and warned of the risks posed by what it described as a continued pattern of repression.

The office called on human rights and humanitarian organizations to take urgent action to halt what it described as escalating violations against women held at Damon Prison.

More than 9,300 Palestinians, including women and children, remain held in Israeli prisons, where many face abuse, starvation and medical neglect that has led to multiple deaths, according to Israeli and Palestinian human rights organizations.

The Israeli army has killed nearly 71,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injured over 171,000 others in attacks in Gaza since October 2023. The military and illegal settlers have also killed at least 1,102 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, and injured nearly 11,000 others during the same period.