The moment the liberated prisoner Shorouq Al-Dwayat arrives at her home (Al-Jazeera)

Palestinian women constituted a milestone in confronting the Israeli occupier, taking up arms, organizing demonstrations, martyrdom, wounded, deported, and captured, but they continued to maintain the image of Palestinian women who are steadfast in the face of the occupier.

More than 16,1967 Palestinian women, both elderly and child, were arrested by the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip in <>, according to the Palestinian Prisoners' Club.

During the past two days, 30 Palestinian prisoners were freed as part of the truce agreement for the exchange of prisoners between Israel and the Islamic Resistance Movement "Hamas", while there are still 32 prisoners in detention in the Israeli occupation prisons, and here we learn about more prisoners, including those who were freed, and some of them are waiting.

24 prisoners freed on first day of truce

The first batch of released female prisoners who were released on the first day of the truce on Friday evening 24/11/2023 included the names of (24) prisoners.


6 prisoners freed on the second day of the truce

The second batch also included the release of 6 female prisoners who were released late on Saturday evening 25/11/2023.


Palestinian Prisoners in Detention

Dozens of Palestinian women prisoners are still detained in Israeli prisons until 25/11/2023.

Oldest captive: We were beaten after October 7

Maysoon Musa al-Jabali, the oldest female prisoner in Israeli prisons after her release at dawn on Sunday, said that "the Palestinian prisoners lived through difficult days after October 7, as the Israeli authorities withdrew everything from them, and assaulted the prisoners by beating, spraying with gas and solitary confinement."

Maysoon is the oldest prisoner in Israeli prisons, having been arrested on June 29, 2015, and sentenced to 15 years in prison. At the end of 2021, Maysoon was nicknamed the dean of prisoners, as she became the oldest Palestinian prisoner still in Israeli prisons, after the release of Amal Taqatqa, who was older than her, and her sentence ended in December 2021.


Detention of Palestinian Women Prisoners Extended

According to a statement issued by the Commission for Prisoners and Ex-Detainees Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoners' Club on November 23, the occupation extended the detention of journalist Mervat al-Azza from Jerusalem until Monday, knowing that she has been detained since November 16.

The detention of prisoner Fairouz Salameh from the town of Anata/Jerusalem was extended for eight days, and she has been detained since November 8.

The occupation also extended the detention of prisoner Omaima Bisharat from Tubas for 144 hours (6 days) to issue an administrative detention order against her, knowing that she had been detained since October 29.

The detention of prisoner Kholoud al-Jarmi from Balata refugee camp / Nablus was extended until Monday, and she and her husband have been detained since November 18.

The Suffering of Palestinian Women Prisoners

From the moment of their arrest by the Israeli occupation forces, Palestinian women prisoners are subjected to all methods of pressure, both psychological and physical, and intimidation, without taking into account their special needs.

According to the prisoners' institutions, (the Prisoners' Affairs Commission, the Palestinian Prisoners' Club, Addameer Association for Prisoner Support and Human Rights, and the Wadi Hilweh Center – Jerusalem), the prisoners in the occupation prisons until the end of October reached about 7,62 prisoners, including <> female prisoners.

Women's Prison in Damon

Most Palestinian women prisoners are held in Damon prison, which was built during the British Mandate as a smoke depot, so that moisture was provided to preserve the smoke leaves when it was built; after 1948, Israel seized it and turned it into a prison.

The prison was closed for a short period of time; it reopened in 2001.

Damon Prison lacks the most basic necessities of human life; most of the rooms are poorly ventilated, many of them are infested with insects and moisture due to the old construction, and the floor is made of concrete (concrete), which makes it very cold on winter days and very hot on summer days.

Freed prisoner Israa al-Jaabiss embraces her son the moment she arrives home (Reuters)

Mothers of prisoners in occupation prisons

The Israeli occupation continues to detain mothers, and the occupation authorities deprive the children of captive mothers of open visits, and enable them to embrace them, in addition to depriving or obstructing some of them from visiting.

The following is a list of mothers who were arrested, according to the Palestinian Prisoners' Club:

  • Israa Jaabis.
  • Fadwa Hamada.
  • Etaf Jaradat.
  • Yasmine Shaaban.
  • Aya Al-Khatib.
  • Manal Saeed Dudin.


Prisoners who gave birth to their children in prisons

From the first moment of the arrest of the pregnant Palestinian prisoner, the series of her suffering at the hands of the Israeli occupation authorities begins; after the end of the interrogation period, she is transferred to detention rooms that lack a minimum of a healthy environment.

When the due date comes, prison authorities chained the prisoner's legs and hands while she is in labour, and she is taken to the hospital, without allowing her husband and family members to attend, and her bonds are only untied at the moment of her birth.

The following are the names of female prisoners who gave birth to their children behind prison bars:

  • Zakia Shammout.
  • Magda Jasser Al-Salaymeh.
  • Omaima Musa Muhammad Al-Jabour Al-Agha.
  • Mervat Mahmoud Yousef Taha.
  • Manal Ibrahim Abdul Rahman Ghanem.
  • Aisha al-Kurd.
  • Samar Ibrahim Sobeih.
  • Fatima Younis Hassan Al-Zaq.
  • Samiha Hamdan.

Prisoners of the beginnings

The occupation prisons were one of the arenas of conflict between the Palestinian woman and the occupying jailer, who tried by all means to break her will, but she withstood to add to her history a new episode of pride and pride, so it was necessary to highlight a constellation of prisoners of the beginnings who presented the flower of their youth behind the bars of the prisons of the occupier since 1967 until the end of the eighties, and in this link a list of the names of the prisoners of the beginnings since 1967, which was published by the Palestinian News Agency on its official website.

Source : Al Jazeera + Agencies