In a statement, the organization said that data it obtained from the Israeli Prison Service showed a "sharp and unprecedented escalation" in the use of punitive solitary confinement over the past two years against Palestinian detainees, including children and women.
She explained that the data distinguishes between short-term "punitive isolation," officially limited to 14 days, and long-term "deterrent isolation," which may extend up to 6 months with the possibility of extension, and is used in exceptional cases.
The organization noted a "widespread shift" towards using punitive isolation as a central tool for punishing and controlling detainees within prisons.
According to the data, the number of detainees subjected to punitive isolation in Israeli prisons increased from 1,845 detainees in 2022 to 7,807 detainees in 2024, including Israelis, an increase of nearly 300% in two years, while the largest increase was recorded among Palestinian detainees.
The organization stated that the number of Palestinians held in punitive isolation rose from less than 2,000 in the years preceding 2023 to 4,717 in 2024.
The number of Palestinian children held in punitive isolation also increased from one child in 2022 to 199 children in 2024, an increase of 19,800%, while the number of Palestinian women held in isolation increased from two women in 2022 to 25 in 2024, an increase of 1,150%.
In contrast, the organization noted a decline in the use of long-term "deterrent isolation" against Palestinian detainees, attributing this to severe overcrowding in prisons and mass arrest campaigns of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip and the West Bank since October 2023.
She added that this led to a shift from the use of long-term isolation against a limited number of detainees to the widespread use of short-term isolation.
The data also showed that cases of prolonged isolation continued for years, as cases were documented of detainees held by Israel in isolation for more than 3 years, including the case of a child who was detained in 2022.
The statement quoted Ong Ben-Dror, from the organization's Prisoners and Detainees Department, as saying that the data indicates "a clear escalation in the policy of punishment through isolation, especially against Palestinian detainees."
She added: "Instead of being an exceptional measure, isolation has become a routine tool used against children and women," expressing "serious concerns" about the effects of the sharp increase in the use of isolation since 2023 on the human rights and psychological and physical conditions of detainees.
Last April, Raed Abu al-Homs, head of the Palestinian Prisoners and Released Prisoners Affairs Authority, told Anadolu that Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails are facing what he described as a "silent genocide," which is a "slow and systematic killing process that includes starvation, solitary confinement, denial of medical treatment, as well as beatings and humiliation."
More than 9,600 Palestinians are languishing in Israeli prisons, suffering torture, starvation, and medical neglect, which has led to the deaths of dozens of them, according to Palestinian and Israeli human rights organizations.
Since the start of the war on Gaza in October 2023, Israel has escalated its measures against Palestinian prisoners, amid human rights reports of increasing violations inside prisons, including torture, isolation, starvation and denial of treatment.
