The Palestinian Center for Prisoner Advocacy considers the Israeli Knesset’s passage of a law allowing Israeli authorities to continue detaining Palestinians from the Gaza Strip without filing charges or allowing them to meet with lawyers as a reckless legal move. The center states this is part of a systematic policy aimed at stripping Palestinian prisoners and detainees, especially those from Gaza, of their basic rights.
According to the center, the law, which passed its second and third readings, extends a temporary regulation titled “Imprisonment of Unlawful Combatants” until December 31, 2025. It includes provisions that prevent detainees from meeting their lawyers for extended periods, allow prolonged detention without any charges, and delay judicial review.
Official data from Israeli prison authorities, as of early July, shows that 2,454 prisoners are classified by Israel as “unlawful combatants”, about a quarter of the total number of Palestinian prisoners, which stands at 10,762.
This law’s passage comes amid documented reports by both Israeli and Palestinian human rights organizations that Palestinian prisoners from Gaza have died in Israeli custody due to torture, deliberate starvation, medical neglect, and Israeli policies of slow death.
Since October 7, 2023, Israel has been waging a genocidal war in the Gaza Strip, involving killing, destruction, starvation, and forced displacement, while ignoring rulings by the International Court of Justice calling for an end to military operations and violations against civilians.
On Thursday, the Knesset plenary approved, in the second and third readings—the “Imprisonment of Unlawful Combatants” bill, referring specifically to Palestinians detained from Gaza since the war began on October 7, 2023.
