After the Gaza Deal and Ben-Gvir’s Resignation: What’s Next for Palestinian Detainees?

The contrasting images of freed Palestinian leader Khalida Jarrar, 62, before her arrest and after her release, capture the plight of detainees in Israeli jails post-October 7, 2023.

In the first image, she exudes vitality, reflecting her active political and social life. In the second, the toll of harsh years in prison is evident: gray hair, pale skin, and physical frailty.

Khalida Jarrar, a leader in the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, was released on January 19 alongside 90 other prisoners from Ofer Prison, located west of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank.

The release marked the first phase of a ceasefire agreement between Hamas and “Israel,” brokered by international and regional mediators.

Neglect and Humiliation

Jarrar’s altered appearance upon release reflected the prolonged medical neglect and deliberate humiliation endured in Israeli prisons.

She is not the first to emerge in such a condition. Over the past months, images of both current and former detainees have served as visual testimony to the immense suffering of prisoners under Israeli detention.

Freed detainee Raghad Amro, a woman in her twenties from Dura, south of Hebron, described the harsh conditions of imprisonment. She recounted long hours of interrogation, beatings, denial of food and clothing, and the forced removal of hijabs from female detainees.

Speaking after her release as part of the recent prisoner swap, Amro said, “Even on the final day, we faced beatings, strip searches, insults, and ‘psychological games’ about the timing of our release.”

“During the transfer process, we were dragged by our hair and forced to lie on the ground. This treatment extended even to children, whom we saw in dire conditions before their release,” she added.

Israeli prison policies of humiliation include the use of tear gas inside cells, deliberate reductions in food quality and quantity, and prolonged solitary confinement.

Other violations involve denying family visits, confiscating personal belongings, and subjecting detainees to repeated physical assaults and psychological torture.

These practices blatantly violate the 1949 Geneva Conventions, which guarantee humane treatment, protection from torture, and access to medical care for detainees.

Having endured six months in solitary confinement before her release, Khalida Jarrar highlighted the systematic physical and psychological abuse of detainees, which has intensified under the crackdown by the Israeli far-right government.

In media statements, Jarrar said that conditions have worsened dramatically since Operation al-Aqsa Flood on October 7, 2023. She described how prison authorities have banned clothing and cleaning supplies, provided substandard food, and subjected detainees to continuous physical and psychological targeting, including provocative late-night searches.

Administrative detention remains one of the most egregious forms of abuse against Palestinians, a practice Khalida Jarrar herself endured—being held without clear charges or a fair trial.

This type of detention has surged as part of a retaliatory policy targeting Palestinians, as it involves no formal charges or legal proceedings.

Between October 2023 and January 22, 2025, 55 detainees whose identities were confirmed died in Israeli prisons, including five held under administrative detention.

In a joint statement on January 13, the Commission of Detainees' Affairs and Palestinian Prisoners and the Palestinian Prisoners Club described this figure as “historically unprecedented, marking the deadliest period for the Palestinian prisoners' movement since 1967.”

The statement noted that “the number of known Palestinian detainees who have died in custody since 1967 has risen to 292, with dozens of detainees from Gaza still subjected to enforced disappearance.”

Most of these individuals did not suffer from severe health conditions, indicating their deaths were a result of Israeli Occupation’s deliberate “slow-killing” policies, which involved the denial of food and medical care, along with physical violence and torture.

Beyond formal prisons, the Israeli military has detained hundreds of Palestinians from Gaza in makeshift detention centers within military bases since October 7, labeling them “unlawful combatants.”

One such facility is Sde Teiman, an Israeli military base in the Negev Desert. Known for brutal physical and sexual abuse of Gaza detainees, it has earned the nickname “Israel’s Guantanamo,” like the infamous U.S. detention center.

Ben-Gvir's Role

Khalida Jarrar has described current conditions for Palestinian detainees as “the harshest since 1967,” attributing this to two main factors:

First, “Israel” has used the events of October 7 as a pretext to impose harsher prison conditions. Second, former National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who oversaw the prisoners' file, played a key role.

Jarrar highlighted that Ben-Gvir, who resigned in protest over the prisoner exchange deal, treated detainees as “less than human,” repeatedly vowing to make their lives “even more unbearable.”

Testimonies from Palestinian security detainees indicate that since October 7, Israeli prison authorities have implemented a policy of starving Palestinian detainees, according to Israel's Association for Civil Rights and human rights organization Gisha.

In April 2024, the two organizations filed a joint petition to the Supreme Court against Itamar Ben-Gvir and Acting Prison Service Chief Kobi Yaakobi, stating that recently released detainees reported severe and persistent hunger and extremely poor food quality.

The petition included accounts such as a diabetic detainee who resorted to eating toothpaste to raise his blood sugar and detainees who lost dozens of kilograms in recent months.

In response, Ben-Gvir insisted that the Prison Service complies with the law but proudly admitted in December 2024 that detainees receive “the bare minimum of food required by law, not a gram more.”

Since assuming office at the end of 2022, Ben-Gvir has repeatedly criticized what he referred to as “luxury items” in prisons. He sought to ban fresh bread and limit shower times for detainees.

Following the October 7 attack, the now-resigned minister ordered new restrictions on security detainees, including increased overcrowding and the removal of beds.

On December 19, 2022, Ben-Gvir stated, “Under my watch, the era of group singing, jam, and lamb meat is over. Terrorist prisons will no longer be hotels.”

After prisons became overcrowded post-October 7, he proposed constructing 1,000 additional detention spaces, a plan approved by the government on April 17, 2024.

According to the Commission of Detainees' Affairs and Palestinian Prisoners, “Israel” is now holding more than 10,400 Palestinian detainees, including 600 serving life sentences—more than double the number held before October 7.

Ben-Gvir claimed that the expansion of prison facilities would allow for more detainees and provide a partial solution to overcrowding. However, he suggested that the “right solution” to the overcrowding crisis is the death penalty for Palestinian detainees he labeled as “terrorists.”

Since assuming office, Ben-Gvir’s Otzma Yehudit party reached an agreement with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to draft legislation permitting the death penalty for Palestinians involved in resistance operations. However, the law has not yet passed in the Knesset.

What Lies Ahead?

Regarding their treatment in prisons, Palestinian researcher Fouad al-Khafsh emphasized that the conditions for detainees are dire and have worsened since Ben-Gvir took office.

On whether the detainees' conditions could improve after the prisoner exchange deal or Ben-Gvir’s resignation, al-Khafsh told Al-Estiklal that “improving detainees’ conditions should be part of the current negotiations, at least until they are released through exchanges and agreements.”

He doubted any significant change in their conditions, including restoring pre-October 7 prison standards, without resistance exerting pressure during exchange negotiations.

“Even if Ben-Gvir resigned, prison authorities who followed his orders are still carrying out his policies.”

“The conditions will remain harsh, and the suffering of detainees will persist as it has since October 7, unless the agreement explicitly includes improvements to their treatment,” he concluded.

Local and Arab media reported that the agreement indeed includes a clause to improve the conditions of Palestinian detainees in Israeli jails. However, no tangible changes have been reported so far.

The Gaza ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement consists of three phases, each lasting 42 days. The first phase includes the release of 33 Israeli prisoners, both alive and deceased. The second phase will involve the release of an unspecified additional number.

These detainees will be exchanged for approximately 1,904 Palestinian prisoners, including 737 from the West Bank and 1,167 from Gaza, who were arrested after October 7, according to Abdullah Al-Zaghari, head of the Palestinian Prisoners Club.

Commenting on the deal’s provisions regarding detainee conditions, Qadura Fares, head of Commission of Detainees' Affairs and Palestinian Prisoners, stated that “Israel” is effectively engaging in mass killings of Palestinian detainees. He described the prisoner exchange deal as a lifeline for them.

“A condition was proposed for Israel to ensure humane treatment and provide life essentials for the remaining detainees after the deal, but it was rejected,” as Fares revealed in a televised interview following his meeting with negotiators and mediators in Qatar.

“Mediators and resistance groups reminded Israel of humanitarian standards and international humanitarian law regarding the treatment of detainees, including Palestinians, but Israel arrogantly refuses.”

“This is deliberate harm and criminal behavior with premeditated intent,” he said, emphasizing that all crimes against detainees implicate Israeli institutions, especially its government.