Israel deploys new prison weapons in systematic abuse of Palestinian detainees

Israel is using Palestinian prisoners as “testing grounds” for new weapons, the head of the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club warned on September 06, describing the move as part of a systematic policy to escalate violence inside jails.

Abdullah al-Zaghari said in a statement that Israel’s prison authorities had recently announced the introduction of new weapons to suppress detainees, including electric stun devices and new types of rubber bullets used in raids.

He said these measures expose prisoners to both fast and slow deaths, in violation of international humanitarian law and basic human rights standards.

Al-Zaghari added that this escalation reflected Israel’s declared policies aimed at dehumanizing detainees, saying that the latest steps are unprecedented in scope and intensity.

He held the Israeli authorities fully responsible for the fate of thousands of prisoners, and urged international human rights bodies to act seriously to hold Israel accountable and pressure governments that support it politically and militarily.

The Prisoners’ Club also released figures marking 700 days since the Gaza war began, saying more than 19,000 Palestinians have been arrested in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, since October 2023. At least 585 women and more than 1,550 children are among those detained.

According to the group, at least 77 prisoners have died in Israeli custody during the war, including 46 from Gaza, while dozens more are believed to have died under enforced disappearance in prisons and military camps. Israel is withholding the bodies of 74 of the dead, the group said.

As of early September 2025, the number of Palestinian detainees stood at over 11,100, including 49 women, more than 400 children, 3,577 administrative detainees, and 2,662 held as “unlawful combatants”.

The Prisoners’ Club said the true number of Gaza detainees remains unknown due to Israel’s policy of enforced disappearance.

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