Former Palestinian detainee describes worsening conditions under Israel’s prison policy

Testimony from repeated detention

Palestinian photojournalist Muath Amarneh has given a detailed account of deteriorating conditions during two periods of Israeli administrative detention. Amarneh told Al Jazeera that he was held for nine months after an October 2023 arrest and for another eight months following his detention in August 2025. Both periods ended without a criminal charge being brought against him.

His account describes severe weight loss, repeated humiliation, restricted access to showers and clean clothing, and long delays in receiving medical treatment. Amarneh, who lost an eye after being struck by a rubber-coated projectile while covering events near Hebron in 2019, said prison authorities temporarily withheld his prescription glasses and denied a hospital transfer when an implant-related injury worsened.

The testimony is an individual account and does not by itself establish responsibility for every alleged incident. Al Jazeera said it sought comment from Israel’s national security ministry, military and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir but received no response before publication. The article also attributes broader detention figures and policy claims to Palestinian rights organisations rather than presenting them as uncontested official statistics.

UN findings provide wider context

The account nevertheless resembles patterns documented by United Nations human-rights mechanisms. A March 2026 communication concerning Israel recorded allegations of physical and psychological torture, sexual violence, medical neglect and starvation in detention. It said that, if substantiated, the allegations would represent serious violations of international human-rights and humanitarian law.

The same UN material reported roughly 9,200 Palestinian detainees during early 2026, including about 3,200 people from the West Bank in administrative detention. A separate UN committee expressed concern about deaths in custody, inadequate investigations and the continuing suspension of International Committee of the Red Cross access to Palestinian detainees held by Israel.

Administrative detention permits incarceration without a conventional criminal trial and can involve evidence withheld from the detainee. Israel maintains that the mechanism addresses security threats. UN bodies have repeatedly argued that it should be exceptional and accompanied by full legal safeguards. Amarneh’s case is notable because a UN working group had already found his first detention unlawful and discriminatory before he was detained again.

The immediate issue is whether Israeli authorities respond to the new testimony or permit stronger independent monitoring. The claims require investigation, access to records and direct scrutiny of detention sites. This is a human-rights accountability story, not a report of a newly begun military attack, so it does not meet the criteria for a map alert.