Statement by the Embassy of the State of Palestine on Palestinian Prisoner’s Day- April 17.
On the occasion of Palestinian Prisoners’ Day, the Embassy of the State of Palestine to the Kingdom of Sweden extends its deepest respect and heartfelt salute to the heroic Palestinian detainees held in Israeli occupation prisons. Their unwavering resilience and steadfastness embody the enduring Palestinian struggle for freedom, dignity, and justice.
Genocide and ethnic cleansing continue to afflict our Palestinian people, including within Israeli prisons, where systematic, punitive and sadistic measures are carried out in blatant violation of the Geneva Conventions and international human rights law.
At present, over 9,900 Palestinians are being held in Israeli detention, including 400 children, 170 journalists, 17 elected parliamentarians, and 3,498 administrative detainees held without charge or trial. More than 1,000 prisoners from the Gaza Strip are detained under inhumane and degrading conditions, raising grave humanitarian concerns and underscoring serious violations of international law.
Palestinian detainees have long endured some of the harshest forms of injustice and torture. However, since October 7, 2023, under the current far-right Israeli government, the situation has escalated to unprecedented levels. The rate of arrests has sharply increased, accompanied by a systematic intensification of repressive and punitive policies and measures within Israeli prisons. Detainees are subjected to both physical and psychological torture, including deliberate starvation, abuse, brutalization, enforced disappearance, denial of legal and family visits, and widespread terror tactics. The use of “medical execution”—the willful neglect and denial of necessary medical treatment for ill prisoners – has also become alarmingly frequent, representing a grave violation of international humanitarian and human rights law.
Moreover, the Israeli occupation has intensified its use of sexual violence, including forced strip searches and threats of rape, targeting both men and women during arrest and interrogation. These grave crimes have been documented and confirmed by the United Nations Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, operating under the mandate of the UN Human Rights Council.
Since the onset of the ongoing genocide against the Gaza Strip, 63 Palestinian prisoners have been killed while in Israeli custody, raising the total number of deaths in detention since 1967 to 300. These actions represent deliberate attempts to break the will of the detainees, as well as the resilience of their families and the broader Palestinian people. Yet, these profound sacrifices only deepen our collective pride and strengthen our unwavering determination to achieve freedom and our full, legitimate national rights.
On Palestinian Prisoners’ Day, as we reaffirm the steadfastness of our people and their rejection of all conspiracies aimed at liquidating the Palestinian cause through the ongoing genocide, ethnic cleansing, and forced displacement now entering its eighteenth consecutive month, we hold the Israeli occupation fully responsible for the lives and safety of Palestinian prisoners in its custody.
We renew our solemn pledge to the prisoners and reaffirm that the cause of liberating all those held in the occupation’s prisons remains a national priority and lies at the core of our national struggle for freedom and justice. We will continue to amplify their voices and expose the crimes of the Israeli occupation to the world.
We call on the international community and human rights organizations to take urgent and concrete action to halt these ongoing crimes, hold the Israeli perpetrators accountable under international law, and work toward securing the immediate release and freedom of all Palestinian prisoners.