December 13, 2024 – Prisoners’ Media Center

The administration of Damon Prison has been refining new methods day after day to harm the Palestinian female prisoners held there. Within this prison, the Israeli guards—both male and female—ceaselessly search for ways to inflict psychological or physical harm upon these women.

One such tactic involves disrupting any moment of happiness. Whenever the prisoners receive good news, the prison administration tries to strip away their positive emotions that might alleviate the suffering they endure behind bars.

Reports from inside the prisons tell of one instance where a female prisoner was presented before the Israeli court and learned that she would be released. She shared this joyful news with her fellow prisoners. When the prison administration sensed their happiness, they began to scream hysterically at them, attempting to kill the joy over their comrade’s impending freedom.

Further intensifying this mental and physical torment, the prison administration resorted to placing some of the prisoners in isolation cells, hurling the worst insults at them, and subjecting them to humiliating strip searches.

En route to the isolation section, female guards deliberately beat the prisoners severely. They were placed in isolation to shatter the joy of the soon-to-be-released prisoner—causing her to feel guilty, as if she were responsible for what befell her friends. However, her fellow prisoners comforted her, showing resilience and solidarity against the occupier.

The isolation cell itself is extremely poor, with high humidity, water seeping in from all sides, and lacking the most basic necessities for human life.

Since October 7, more than 435 women have been arrested—this figure includes women arrested from the territories occupied in 1948, and women from Gaza who were arrested in the West Bank. This number does not include additional dozens of women arrested from Gaza itself.

There are currently 88 identified female prisoners, including four from Gaza held in Damon Prison. Among them, 27 are administrative detainees. The figure does not encompass all female prisoners from Gaza; there may be others held in occupation-run military camps.