Israel doubles down on mass incarceration

Polygraph | Newsletter n°247 | 17 May 2024

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Israel has doubled down on its mass incarceration of Palestinians since October 7. Israel classifies inmates either as “criminal” or “security” prisoners. The latter are incarcerated based on the supposed threat they pose to the state and are treated much worse. The overwhelming majority of the 9,088 “security prisoners” are Palestinian. Most are held in Israel, which violates international law (an occupying power isn't allowed to incarcerate the people it occupies in its own territory). Conditions in these prisons have gone from bad to unspeakable.

“Unlawful combatants” are a type of security prisoner (like administrative detainees). They’re denied protection from the Third and Fourth Geneva Conventions, meaning that they’re stripped of their rights as a civilian but aren’t afforded the rights of a soldier either. The original intent of Israel’s 2002 “Unlawful Combatants Law” was to permit the state to detain Lebanese citizens as bargaining chips in exchange for Israeli captives. Now it’s used to detain Palestinians from Gaza without trial.

The figures below do not include the unlawful combatants held in Israeli military camps (as opposed to prisons). At a given time, there are between a few dozen and a few hundred Gazans detained in these camps, from which there have emerged several accusations of torture. The perpetrators likely weighed the meaning of the following statistic beforehand: From 2001 to 2022, the Israeli Ministry of Justice received 1,400 complaints of torture and zero have resulted in indictments.

^Alt text for screen readers: Israel doubles down on its mass incarceration of Palestinians. This chart shows three lines that show the growth of security prisoners, administrative detainees, and unlawful combatants held by Israel from May 2022 to May 2024. All three populations began surging in October 2023. As of May 2024, there are 9,088 security prisoners, 3,424 administrative detainees, and 865 unlawful combatants. Security prisoners lose their fundamental rights. Administrative detainees are held without charge or trial. Unlawful combatants are denied protection under the Third and Fourth Geneva Conventions. Data via Israel Prison Service, HaMoked.

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