Israeli prisons denied Palestinians access to drinking water

A report from the public defender’s office of Israel’s justice ministry found that Palestinians detained in Israeli prisons were denied access to drinking water for periods of up to 12 hours, as reported by the Middle East Eye via Haaretz on January 1st.

According to the report, the denial of water for up to half a day was a form of collective punishment for Palestinian “security prisoners.” The findings were based on three visits by public defender representatives to Ketziot Prison in southern Israel in May, June, and September 2024.

On December 30th, a report published by Palestinian prisoner rights groups found that at least 32 Palestinians had died in Israeli custody throughout 2025, which it described as a “systematic genocide” against Palestinians.

Palestinian detainees were reportedly subjected to “severely inhumane systematic policies”, and stated that Israeli detention facilities have turned into sites of torture, designed to break prisoners physically and mentally through prolonged, deliberate suffering, and slow-execution policies.”

In his role as National Security Minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, of the far-right Jewish Power Party, is responsible for overseeing Palestinian prisoner affairs; under his supervision, Palestinian detainees described experiencing torture and abuse.

In October, footage emerged of Ben-Gvir standing in front of a cell containing shackled Palestinian detainees. He told the camera that Palestinians “deserve a death penalty law.”

Along with other party members, Ben-Gvir has advocated for Palestinians accused of terrorism to be executed. On November 10th, the National Security Committee approved a bill that would permit the execution of Palestinians convicted of killing Israelis on “nationalistic grounds”; two subsequent readings are required for the bill to become law.

According to the guiding principles of the new law, which were written by Jewish Power’s Tzvika Foghel,  “the death penalty will ensure that there are no more bargaining chips and no more deals paid for with future Jewish blood.”

On December 19th, Ben-Gvir published an updated version of the  “Death Penalty for Terrorists Bill”, stating that Palestinians accused of perpetrating attacks would receive the death penalty as a “mandatory sentence.”

The definition of terrorism, according to some Israeli politicians, is seemingly broad; a December 3rd parliamentary discussion led to some Knesset members arguing that Palestinians who burn waste should be designated as terrorists, thereby allowing their execution.

This argument received backing from Jewish Power members, along with the Likud Party’s Environment Minister, Idit Silman, who all agreed that waste burning by Palestinians constituted a security threat.

Middle East Eye via Haaretz, Maghrebi.org