Today, 17 April 2024, Adalah marks Palestinian Prisoners' Day, a day observed annually to raise awareness of the severe conditions of Palestinian prisoners detained in Israeli prisons. As of April 2024, Israel holds a record number of over 9,300 Palestinians classified by the Israel Prison Service (IPS) as "security prisoners", an increase of over 4,000 individuals since the beginning of the war, including 3,661 administrative detainees, held without charge or the possibility of trial. Since the start of the war on 7 October 2023, Israeli authorities have significantly ramped up the torture and ill-treatment of Palestinian detainees and prisoners

Fourteen Palestinian prisoners have died in Israeli prisons since 7 October 2023. Walid Daqqa, the longest serving Palestinian citizen of Israel, who spent 38 years in Israeli prison, is one of them. He was due to complete his sentence in March 2025, but on 7 April 2024 he passed away from cancer, after prolonged medical neglect while in Israeli custody. During his imprisonment, Daqqa authored several books in which he documented his experiences and advocated for justice for his fellow prisoners and for the Palestinian people in general.
 
Daqqa’s story did not end with his death, as his family is now being denied the opportunity to grieve their loss with dignity. As of this writing, Israeli prison authorities have refused to release Daqqa’s body to his family for burial; Adalah is challenging this illegal detention before the Israeli Supreme Court. Additionally, Israeli police stormed the mourning tent set up by his family at their home in Baqa Al-Gharbiya, and attacked and arrested family members and mourners. Adalah sent a letter to the Israeli police on 8 April arguing that dismantling the tent is an aggressive, retaliatory and illegal act, and called on the police to immediately stop this practice and to respect the family's right to mourn.

The unprecedented number of deaths of Palestinian prisoners and detainees in Israeli custody, and preliminary evidence of these deaths, indicate that abuse by IPS personnel may have caused the death in several of these cases.

Testimonies of Palestinian prisoners and detainees held in Israeli prisons reveal severe breaches of the absolute prohibition of torture and other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment by IPS authorities including physical assaults causing major injuries, sexual harassment and intimidation directed at both male and female detainees, as well as other humiliating acts and threats. These actions also constitute collective punishment and blatant violations of both domestic and international law.
 
Adalah is representing Ahmad Khalifa, a Palestinian citizen of Israel, a lawyer and a human rights defender, who was arrested in mid-October 2023 for participating in an anti-war protest in Umm al-Fahem. Khalifa, who was detained for four months at Megiddo Prison, where three Palestinians in custody have died, recounted during a court hearing about another prisoner: 

On 19 February 2024, Adalah, together with other human rights organizations jointly submitted a report  to the UN Special Rapporteur (SR) on Torture urging the SR to take immediate action to halt the systematic abuse, torture, and ill-treatment of Palestinian prisoners and detainees in Israeli prisons and detention facilities. The report, supported by the World Organization Against Torture (OMCT), provides details on 19 cases, emphasizing an alarming trend and brutal escalation of abuse.

According to data provided by the IPS, 849 Palestinian residents of Gaza are being held in Israeli prisons as "unlawful combatants", under Israeli law. Based on its firsthand documentation and available information, Al Mezan has estimated that around 1,650 Palestinian residents of Gaza are interned in Israeli prisons under this law. 

According to the Israeli army, as of 9 January 2024, 2,300 Palestinians have been interrogated by the military since the onset of the Israeli offensive on Gaza, some of whom have been taken into custody for “further questioning” in Israel. The army refuses to release more concrete figures regarding the detainees currently held in military camps, most notably at the “Sede Teiman” base in the south of Israel.  

An amendment to the Unlawful Combatants Law, passed as a temporary order on 18 December 2023, permits the military to detain individuals without a warrant for up to 45 days, to defer a first court hearing for individuals for up to 75 days, and to deny them access to legal counsel for up to 180 days. Thus, this new order effectively places these individuals in incommunicado detention, as the military deliberately withholds information regarding the detainees’ identity and denies access to external visitors, including the ICRC. On 19 February 2024, after months of Israel’s refusal to disclose information, Adalah, together with partner human rights organizations, petitioned the Israeli Supreme Court demanding the cancellation of the amendment. The state has yet to provide a response.