⭕️ Key Data on Palestinian Political Prisoners (as of early April 2026)
The total number of Palestinian and Arab political prisoners held in israeli occupation prisons has exceeded 9,600 people, reflecting an 83% increase compared to pre-genocide figures (5,250 people).
🔴 ·About 50% of all Palestinian political prisoners are held without trial or charge.
There are currently 86 women prisoners, including two minors (under 18), and two women detained prior to the genocide. Among them, 25 women are held under “administrative detention” without trial or charge.
🔴 Children: Approximately 350 minors are detained, primarily in Ofer and Megiddo prisons. By the end of 2025, 180 children had been held under “administrative detention.”
🔴 “Administrative detainees”:
·This refers to Palestinians arrested from the occupied West Bank and are held without trial or charge under a military order.
· The number has risen dramatically to more than 3,532 detainees, including women and children.
· Most are former prisoners, alongside students, journalists, lawyers, engineers, doctors, academics, parliamentarians, activists, workers, and relatives of prisoners or martyrs.
· This marks a 168% increase (or about 2.7-fold higher) from the approximately 1,320 people held under this military order before the genocide began.
This refers to Palestinians arrested from the occupied Gaza Strip and are held without trial or charge under the “Unlawful Combatants Law”.
According to prison authorities, there are 1,251 Palestinians held under this category (excluding those held in military camps).
The number has increased significantly. The vast majority suffer from illness—either pre-existing conditions, or injuries by occupation forces, or diseases developed due to the unsanitary and harsh detention conditions, torture, and denial of medical care.
🔴 Identified Martyred Prisoners:
Since the occupation of 1967, 326 Palestinians have been martyred inside the prison system, including 89 people since the genocide in Gaza began. This figure includes only those who have been identified. Dozens from Gaza remain forcibly disappeared.
Occupation authorities are withholding the bodies of 97 martyred Palestinian prisoners marking an increase of over 781% (about 8.8-fold higher) compared to the period prior to the genocide when eleven martyred prisoners’ bodies were being withheld.
🔴 Prisoners Held Since Before Oslo Accords:
Following the prisoner exchange deals—most recently in October 2025—and the release of prisoner Ibrahim Abu Mukh after 40 years in detention, eight Palestinians detained from before the Oslo Accords remain behind bars.
The longest-held among them are Ibrahim Bayadsa and Ahmad Abu Jaber, both detained since 1986.
🔴 Dozens of Palestinians are held from the period of the Al-Aqsa (Second) Intifada, and who have spent more than 21 years in occupation prisons. This group includes a number of military leaders, most of whom are serving life sentences.
Following the exchange deals, 118 Palestinians are currently serving life sentences.
🔴 The longest sentences include:
Abdullah Barghouti (67 life sentences)
Ibrahim Hamed (54 life sentences)
