Rizky Amelia
Conditions inside Israeli detention facilities have deteriorated dramatically into an environment marked by systemic mistreatment, physical violence, and calculated deprivation under the leadership of National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir. Former prisoners and human rights monitors describe an escalating pattern of abuse where punitive measures have become standard institutional policy across the penal network.
Ben-Gvir, the far-right minister who directly oversees the Israeli prison authority, has repeatedly publicized his hardline measures against Palestinian detainees. Through official communications and social media broadcasts, the minister has framed the removal of basic amenities and the worsening treatment of inmates as key accomplishments of his time in office.
The minister’s public relations campaign drew widespread backlash in August following the publication of an artificial intelligence-generated clip on his social media accounts. The animation depicted well-nourished Palestinian men entering a detention center on a conveyor belt and exiting in an emaciated, weeping state, accompanied by the text: "We promised, we delivered." The post was eventually taken down after attracting sharp criticism and comparisons to historical concentration camps.
Shortly afterward, Ben-Gvir circulated video footage documenting his personal interaction with female Palestinian inmates. When an imprisoned woman informed him that she had been denied a shower for three days and was being deprived of medical attention, Ben-Gvir openly dismissed her grievances, stating that comfortable conditions were permanently over and declaring that he was directly responsible for, and pleased with, the severe environment.
For those who have experienced Israeli detention firsthand, these staged media appearances obscure a far more brutal reality. Muath Amarneh, a 39-year-old Palestinian photojournalist and former detainee from the Dheisheh refugee camp near Bethlehem, explained that the minister’s brief video clips completely mask the systemic abuse occurring behind closed doors.
Amarneh stated that high-profile visits and public recordings capture only fleeting moments of official bravado, while hiding the extended brutality that occurs outside the camera's frame. According to his testimony, detainees are routinely subjected to intense humiliation and physical beatings both immediately before and after official delegations film their brief promotional segments.
Amarneh's encounters with Israeli authorities trace back to his journalistic career covering the occupied West Bank. In 2019, Israeli forces fired a rubber-coated metal bullet that struck him while he was reporting on clashes near Hebron while wearing a marked press vest, costing him his left eye and leaving permanent shrapnel lodged near his skull.
Following the outbreak of the war in Gaza, Amarneh was arrested in October 2023 and placed in administrative detention, where he was incarcerated for nine months between Megiddo and Nafha prisons. Upon securing his release, he attempted to protect himself from further persecution by abandoning daily news reporting in favor of long-form documentary production.
Despite altering his professional focus, Amarneh was detained once again without formal charges in August 2025. He was subsequently held for eight months at Ofer prison, an experience that led him to conclude that his continued detention was simply retaliation for his media profession.
Amarneh is among thousands caught in Israel's expanding use of administrative detention, a practice where individuals are imprisoned indefinitely without trial or access to the evidence against them. According to Addameer, a Palestinian prisoners' rights organization, the number of administrative detainees has surged to approximately 3,200—more than double the estimated 1,300 individuals held prior to October 7, 2023. Israeli and United States authorities have accused Addameer of having ties to terrorism, an allegation the advocacy group strongly denies.
Sahar Francis, a lawyer and former executive director of Addameer, noted that Ben-Gvir's nearly four-year leadership has institutionalized and intensified cruelty throughout the penal system. Francis pointed out that early in his tenure, the minister initiated punitive changes by shutting down the two internal bakeries responsible for providing fresh bread to Palestinian detainees.
The onset of the war in October 2023 catalyzed a far more severe crackdown on incarcerated Palestinians. Prison administrators suspended all family visits, barred International Committee of the Red Cross delegates from inspecting facilities, and blocked defense attorneys from meeting clients for the first four to five months. Authorities also confiscated personal belongings, reading materials, and surplus garments, forcing prisoners to survive with only a single change of attire.
Francis further reported that detention facilities closed their internal health clinics while deploying specialized riot units to conduct daily raids on prisoner wards. The routine beatings administered during these incursions have reportedly resulted in multiple deaths in custody, alongside widespread reports of severe physical abuse, harassment, and sexual violence reminiscent of early occupation practices.
The physical consequences of these policies have been devastating for the detained population. In Amarneh's case, the harsh treatment and extreme food rationing caused him to lose 35 kilograms (77 pounds) over his periods of incarceration, during which he was forced to wear a single pair of trousers for 90 consecutive days.
Reflecting on his time in custody, Amarneh noted that the prison system underwent a total transformation following the start of the war. He observed that while Israeli detention facilities were already notoriously difficult, administrative policies under Ben-Gvir have turned them into unlivable spaces completely stripped of basic human dignity.
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