IMPRISONMENT FROM 1948
Upon its establishment, Israel’s incorporation of the 1945 Defence Regulations was used to target Palestinians who remained within the borders of the newly-created state. Palestinians inside Israel were subject to military rule from 1948 to 1966, and the measures outlined in the mandate-era regulations were used against them, including arbitrary arrest without trial, and on an indefinite basis. Imprisonment was used freely for those committing “violations” such as breaking curfews, breaking movement restrictions, and engaging in political activity that was deemed a threat to the Israeli state. Some people were arrested on a monthly basis. In 1967, when Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip began, following the June War, this same system, and the systematic use of imprisonment as an instrument of colonial subjugation, was extended to these territories and the Palestinians living there. More broadly, a military court system specifically for use in these newly-occupied territories was developed, and imprisonment became a key component of Israel’s colonisation of the land.
THE SCALE OF PALESTINIAN IMPRISONMENT
Since 1967:
1 million Palestinians arrested 20% of Palestinians in the West Bank & Gaza have been imprisoned (1 in 5 people) 40% of Palestinian men (2 in 5) have been detained Tens of thousands of children have been arrested
April 2025: 9,900 Palestinians are held in Israeli prisons 400 of them children 3,498 held without charge or trial
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