Palestinian Center for Prisoners Advocacy – Gaza
In the desperate search for food in the besieged Strip, which has been enduring a brutal war of extermination for over twenty-two months, nearly every conceivable danger lurks, the worst being death itself—delivered without mercy, compassion, or humanity at the hands of occupation soldiers entrenched in military posts near densely populated neighborhoods or standing on the ruins of bombed-out homes. Other risks, though somewhat less severe in comparison to the agony of hunger, disease, oppression, and deprivation, include injury, arrest, or enforced disappearance. Hundreds of young men, teenagers, and even children have been subjected to such fates, driven by hunger sweeping across all of Gaza into areas labeled “red zones” by the occupying forces, in repeated attempts to find a morsel of food to stave off deadly starvation caused by the deliberate policy of famine imposed on over two million Palestinians in Gaza.
These risks are often shared among those on this desperate hunt for sustenance, as happened with Ahmad Nafez Baraka from Bani Suhaila, east of Khan Younis in southern Gaza. On the evening of July 28th this year, he ventured into an area where Israeli forces were stationed, searching for leftover scraps of food from those soldiers. His fate was arrest and field torture, while Israeli forces opened fire on his companion, killing him on the spot.
Israeli media, citing the army, initially reported that two armed Palestinians had attempted to storm an Israeli military base east of Khan Younis, claiming one was killed and the other arrested. However, the Israeli army later released documented footage showing Baraka giving field “confessions” about his presence in the area, his frail, emaciated body visibly marked by hunger and exhaustion. The video showed him bare-chested, while experts highlighted stark contradictions between the army’s initial account and the later-released footage.
Earlier this month, Israeli forces detained around fifteen children near the Zikim area, where aid trucks were arriving—another “red zone” according to the Israeli military. Soldiers detained the starving children for hours, during which they were beaten and tortured in the field, before eventually being released, according to testimony from several of the children.
Despite the mortal dangers facing starving civilians, their attempts to reach areas where they might find food for themselves and their families persist. According to UN data, famine in Gaza has reached Level 5 as of July this year—a catastrophic and unprecedented level, highlighting the depth of the humanitarian disaster that drives people to risk death, arrest, injury, or enforced disappearance for the chance of a single meal.
Data from the Palestinian Center for Prisoners Advocacy indicates that since October 7th, Israeli forces have detained 3,500 Palestinians during military operations in Gaza, including from displacement shelters. Between October 2023 and September 2025, 52 detainees have died in interrogation centers, detention facilities, and prisons, according to documented records. These are only the identified victims, with enforced disappearances ongoing. This period marks the deadliest chapter in the history of the Palestinian prisoners’ movement, bringing the total number of prisoners killed in Israeli custody since 1967 to 311 martyrs.
