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Palestinian Territories

Palestinian women held by Israel rise to 88, PA body says, as administrative detention eases from peak

About a quarter of the women are held without charge, a PA body says. Prison data show 3,101 Palestinians in administrative detention in October, below the 2024 peak.

By Published 9 min read

Ofer Prison near Ramallah in the West Bank, October 2025.
Ofer Prison near Ramallah in the West Bank, October 2025. · Photo: Danielrosehill, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons ↗

The number of Palestinian women held in Israeli prisons has risen to 88, the Palestinian Authority's Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs said on Monday evening. About 24% of them are held under administrative detention orders, which allow detention without charge or trial, the commission said. That share works out to roughly 21 women.

The figure comes as Israel's overall use of administrative detention has eased from its wartime peak but remains far above prewar levels. Israel Prison Service data published by the Israeli rights group HaMoked show 3,101 Palestinians held in administrative detention as of October 2026. That is the lowest monthly figure since December 2023, but more than twice the 1,319 recorded in October 2023.

Israel's security services say they use administrative detention for security reasons when no criminal case is available, often relying on secret intelligence. Palestinian groups and rights organizations say it is used to hold people for long periods on secret files. This report sets out the new figures, what each side says, and how the practice is reviewed.

What the commission reported

The commission said the 88 women include those held under new administrative detention orders and under renewed ones, WAFA reported. It did not give a full breakdown by age, region or charge. In its statement carried by Safa, the commission said the renewals leave women facing long imprisonment without knowing the evidence against them. It said they have no meaningful chance to challenge their detention.

In a longer statement to media outlets, the commission said women in Israeli prisons face beatings, food deprivation, medical neglect and solitary confinement, the Safa news agency reported. It said testimonies from detainees and lawyers describe overcrowded cells at Damon Prison in northern Israel, where most of the women are held, along with shortages of clothing and hygiene products. It said detainees had described invasive strip searches, harassment and threats during interrogation. The commission called on international human rights and humanitarian groups to intervene urgently to protect the women.

These accounts come from detainees and their lawyers through the commission. They could not be independently checked for this report.

How the count has changed this year

Palestinian prisoner groups have published several counts of women detainees this year:

  • April 14: The commission, the Prisoners' Society and the rights group Addameer put the number at 86 in a joint statement, within a total of more than 9,600 Palestinian and Arab prisoners at the start of April, Times of Palestine reported, citing WAFA.
  • April 22: The Palestinian Prisoners' Society said the number had risen to 90, a level it said had previously been seen only at the height of mass arrests early in the war, WAFA reported. It listed 25 administrative detainees, two minors, a pregnant woman, three journalists and two cancer patients among them.
  • June 2: The society said the number stood at 89 after four young women were detained that morning, WAFA reported. It listed 19 administrative detainees, three minors, three pregnant women and two women with cancer.
  • Nov. 2: The commission put the number at 88, with 24% in administrative detention.

The society said in April that most arrests of women are made on charges of "incitement." It said more than 700 women had been arrested since the start of the war, a figure it raised to more than 760 in June. It said there are no accurate figures for arrests in Gaza.

What the prison data show

HaMoked publishes monthly figures it receives from the Israel Prison Service on "security" inmates. As of October 2026, Israel held 7,846 such inmates. They were 1,509 sentenced prisoners, 3,236 remand detainees and 3,101 administrative detainees. A further 1,419 people were held as "unlawful combatants," a category under Israeli law used mainly for Gaza residents. The IPS figures do not include Gaza detainees held by the military.

HaMoked's published figures are not broken down by sex.

Palestinians in Israeli administrative detention and all "security" inmates, 2022–2026Figures at the start of the quarter's first month. "Security" inmates are sentenced prisoners, remand detainees and administrative detainees held by the Israel Prison Service; they exclude people held as "unlawful combatants."

Source: HaMoked, from Israel Prison Service data

Show the numbers
MonthAdministrative detaineesAll "security" inmates
Jan 20225004,328
Apr 20225264,384
Jul 20226484,477
Oct 20227984,623
Jan 20238664,658
Apr 20231,0164,841
Jul 20231,1324,885
Oct 20231,3195,192
Jan 20243,2917,939
Apr 20243,6618,463
Jul 20243,3798,221
Oct 20243,3988,387
Jan 20253,3768,335
Apr 20253,4988,045
Jul 20253,6298,308
Oct 20253,5448,383
Jan 20263,3858,006
Apr 20263,5328,309
Jul 20263,2447,979
Oct 20263,1017,846

The number of administrative detainees rose through 2022 and 2023. It more than doubled after the Hamas-led attack of Oct. 7, 2023, peaking at 3,661 in April 2024. It stayed between about 3,240 and 3,660 from January 2024 to July 2026, then fell in each month from August to October.

What Israel says

Israel's security services describe administrative detention as a tool for cases where a person poses a danger and no criminal case can be brought. Detainees can petition Israel's High Court of Justice, which may review the secret material behind an order.

A High Court ruling this year shows how the court reviews such cases. The petitioner, born in 1997 and from Nablus, had been held since March 8, 2026, under a first order that ran until Aug. 31, according to the ruling as published by Bagats. The security services told the court the man was "suspected of incitement; suspected of advancing military activity; and his presence in the area endangers the security of the region," in a 567politics translation. They said the order was issued for decisive security reasons and in the absence of a criminal alternative. The ruling said they planned to recommend a further six-month order.

With the consent of the man's lawyer, the justices reviewed the secret material and sent the security services a question. They found that the intelligence backed the open summary and declined to intervene. After the question, the security services said the next order would be the last one, subject to the usual exceptions.

The Israel Prison Service has rejected claims of systematic abuse. Responding in May to a New York Times column alleging sexual violence against Palestinian detainees, it said, "The allegations raised are false and entirely unfounded," and that it operates in accordance with the law, as quoted by Times of Palestine from The Times of Israel.

A debate inside Israel

Some Israeli commentators have questioned the scale of the practice. In an August analysis for The Jerusalem Post, legal affairs writer Yonah Jeremy Bob noted that the number of administrative detainees had been between hundreds and about 1,000 before the war, and above 3,000 for three years since. "Not all of the 3,000-plus detainees can be as bad as Israel has claimed the kind of person who gets administratively detained needs to be," he wrote.

Bob pointed to the case of Tal Yinon Dardik, a Jewish settler the defense establishment suspects of violent attacks on Palestinian villages. Instead of detention, Dardik was placed under travel limits and a twice-daily police check-in. Bob wrote that Defense Minister Israel Katz had vetoed administrative detention for Jewish suspects in January 2025. He suggested a pilot of similar conditions for a small number of Palestinian detainees.

The gap in how the tool is applied to Jews and Palestinians is a long-running grievance for Palestinians. Bob wrote that the usual official reasoning has two parts: that more Palestinian detainees are seen as planning killings, and that Palestinians released under conditions would be harder to monitor and rearrest.

What rights groups say

HaMoked says Israel's treatment of security inmates violates their rights to equality, dignity and family life. It says holding prisoners from the occupied territories inside Israel breaches the Fourth Geneva Convention, which bars moving detainees out of occupied territory. It also says the "unlawful combatant" category does not exist in international law. Israeli law defines such a person as one who took part, directly or indirectly, in hostile acts against Israel or belongs to a force that carries them out.

Times of Palestine also cited a study published in the journal Middle East Policy in February 2026. Drawing on interviews with 50 formerly imprisoned Palestinian women, it reported beatings, strip searches, solitary confinement and denial of medical care, and found pregnant women and minors especially exposed.

The Palestinian Prisoners' Society, in its April and June statements, called administrative detention a policy based on "secret files." It demanded the release of women detainees, especially children, pregnant women and the sick.

The wider context

The detainee issue sits within a broader dispute over Israel's role in the West Bank and Gaza. The PA recorded 3,133 West Bank incidents in October. Israeli forces recently left Hebron after a 10-day operation. In Gaza, efforts to set up new policing and governance have stalled.

Releases of women detainees were part of the January 2025 ceasefire exchange, Times of Palestine reported. It said, citing Al Jazeera, that 90 Palestinian women and children were freed in its first release, among them former Palestinian Legislative Council member Khalida Jarrar. It said Jarrar had spent six months in isolation before her release. The future of Gaza diplomacy remains uncertain while Israel forms its next government.

What to watch

HaMoked's figures are monthly, so the November count will show whether the drop in administrative detention continues. The commission and the Prisoners' Society publish their own counts of women and children through WAFA. Israel's next government will set policy on detention, including whether to change how the tool is used.

For how 567politics handles sources and disputed claims, see our methodology.

About this report

This report draws on statements by the PA Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoners' Society as carried by WAFA and Safa; Israel Prison Service data published by HaMoked; a High Court of Justice ruling published by Bagats; an analysis in The Jerusalem Post; and an IPS statement, earlier counts and a February 2026 academic study as reported by Times of Palestine. Translations from Hebrew are by 567politics. Times are Eastern.

Differing perspectives

Should Israel keep holding Palestinians, including women, in administrative detention at its current scale?

Each position is summarized as its supporters make it, with equal weight and in alphabetical order. A summary is not an endorsement; the evidence for each is weighed in the story above.

  • Detain when security requires it

    Who holds it: Israel's security services, as upheld by the High Court

    Israel's security services say administrative detention is used for decisive security reasons when no criminal case is available. In one 2026 case, they told the High Court the detainee was suspected of incitement and of advancing military activity, and that his presence endangered the region. The court reviewed the secret intelligence, found it supported those claims and declined to intervene.

    In their words: High Court of Justice ruling (via Bagats) ↗

  • End practices that breach international law

    Who holds it: HaMoked

    HaMoked says prisoners and detainees keep their basic rights and that Israel's treatment of security inmates violates rights to equality, dignity and family life. It says holding detainees from the occupied territories inside Israel breaches the Fourth Geneva Convention. It also says the unlawful combatant category used to hold Gaza residents does not exist in international law.

    In their words: HaMoked ↗

  • Release the detained women

    Who holds it: Palestinian Prisoners' Society; PA Commission of Detainees Affairs

    The Palestinian Prisoners' Society says Israel is targeting women through ongoing arrest campaigns, often on incitement charges or under administrative detention based on secret files. It says women detainees face harsh conditions, including hunger, medical neglect, solitary confinement and strip searches. It demands the immediate release of women detainees, especially minors, pregnant women and the sick, and an end to the abuses it describes.

    In their words: WAFA (Palestinian Prisoners' Society) ↗

  • Shrink it with tested alternatives

    Who holds it: Jerusalem Post legal analyst Yonah Jeremy Bob

    Bob argues that holding more than 3,000 Palestinians in administrative detention strains Israel's own legal defense of the tool, since not all can pose the danger it claims. He notes that a Jewish suspect was placed under travel limits instead. He proposes a small pilot of similar conditions for some Palestinian detainees, tracked for results, while keeping detention for real threats.

    In their words: The Jerusalem Post ↗

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Alternate sources & perspectives

Independent coverage and primary evidence to help you compare arguments. A link is not an endorsement; perspective labels describe the linked material.

Reviewed 2026-11-03. Discovery search returned only generic pages, so sources were chosen by hand and each was opened in full. The commission's claims about conditions come from detainees and lawyers and could not be independently checked. The Israel Prison Service's response is quoted secondhand, via Times of Palestine citing The Times of Israel, which could not be opened from our tools. HaMoked's prison figures are not broken down by sex.

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