Two beds for 18 people: Israel detains West Bank Palestinians in harsh conditions

Palestinian detainees at the Arad police station, May 2026

Eden Solomon reports in Haaretz on 11 May 2026:

Eighteen Palestinians who entered Israel without a permit from the West Bank were arrested last Saturday and brought to a police station in southern Israel’s Arad, where they were held for several days under harsh and unlawful conditions, according to court rulings.

The 18 men were detained on May 2 and slept in a holding cell with only two beds and a single toilet. Be’er Sheva Magistrate’s Court Judge Ahinoam Tzuriel ruled that the detainees were held in abnormal conditions and must be transferred to Israeli Prison Service custody. At the time of the rulings, some detainees remained at the Arad station under the same conditions.

On Tuesday, six of the detainees attended a hearing in which police sought to extend their detention. Public defenders described the conditions in custody.

Attorney Ayelet Cohen, who represented some of the detainees on behalf of the public defender’s office, said that although the holding cell at the police station is equipped to accommodate only two detainees, all eighteen were held in the same waiting area since their arrest.

“I cannot imagine how human beings can survive these poor conditions,” she said. According to Cohen, each trip to the single toilet available to the group required detainees to be shackled and escorted by an officer.  Police confirmed this was conducted in accordance with procedure.

The detainees said they did not even have a place to wash their faces, she added.  Defense attorney Taher Al-Makawi said the conditions represented a “brutal disregard for the rights of detainees.” He added that “a country that respects itself either takes care of its detainees or does not arrest them.”

Police said they had attempted to secure additional detention facilities without success. They added that detainees were divided between the detention cell and the holding cell at the station and were provided food “as needed.”

The court criticized the conditions of detention, stating that no evidence contradicting the defense claims had been presented. It ruled that the detainees were held in inappropriate conditions and that the exceptional number of detainees did not allow for lawful detention.

The court ordered the release of four detainees under restrictive conditions and extended the detention of two others until Sunday, citing their criminal records.  The judge said there was no justification for the conditions in which the detainees were held or for the violation of their rights, and emphasized that they must be transferred to Israeli Prison Service custody to ensure proper conditions.

The detainees ordered released were unable to meet the conditions imposed on them, including presenting an Israeli guarantor and financial securities.

They were returned to custody and brought back to the Arad station, where they were again held under harsh conditions, contrary to the court’s ruling, according to Attorney Ahmad Saadi from the Public Defender’s Office, who represents some of the detainees.

“One of them is in the custody of the Israel Prison Service and all 17 others are still at the Arad station,” Saadi said. He added that the station cannot contain the number of detainees, leading to insufficient food, detainees being shackled to one another, and difficulty accessing the toilet, which required police escort each time.

“Some of them could not sleep because it is a small cell,” he said.

The detainees were brought on Thursday for another hearing at the Be’er Sheva Magistrate’s Court, where Judge Eran Tzabari criticized their detention conditions and the failure to implement the decision to transfer them to Israeli Prison Service custody.

He said that when detainees are held at police stations during investigations, and when indictments are filed, there is often an intention to transfer them to the Prison Service custody, but this is not carried out.

According to the judge, the case reflects a broader phenomenon of detainees being held in harsh conditions. “Not only in this case but also in others, the court finds itself dealing with detention conditions of detainees against whom indictments have been filed, with the common denominator being reports of harsh and inappropriate conditions,” he said.

As reported in Haaretz, police often hold detainees in unsuitable facilities due to overcrowding in prisons and frequently fail to transfer them to Israeli Prison Service custody.  In another case at the Arad police station, 34 detainees were held in a single cell, as emerged during a hearing at the Be’er Sheva District Court.

“I approached the large cage where the detainees were held, all of them standing. The tallest among them managed to speak with me,” attorney Ayelet Cohen recounted. “I do not understand how 34 people can sleep in a cell under appalling conditions, like sardines. How can human beings be held under these conditions?”

She also said that when detainees asked to relieve themselves, “they were told to relieve themselves on each other.”

Criminal Procedure Regulations stipulate that the average area per detainee in a cell must not be less than 4.5 square meters. The Criminal Procedure Law further states that detainees must be held under appropriate conditions that do not harm their health and dignity, and that each detainee is entitled to a bed, mattress and blankets for personal use.

The Israel Police said: “By virtue of its role, the Israel Police enforces the law and protects the public from offenders, including those who enter the country illegally. The police ensure the rights of detainees throughout the criminal process.”

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