Palestinian female detainees face escalating abuse in Damon

• Office for Prisoners’ Media reports repeated violent crackdowns on women in Damon Prison. 
• Survivors and rights advocates say abuses include beatings, stripping, gas use and inhuman conditions.

Palestinian female detainees held in Damon Prison have been subjected to what rights groups describe as escalating and systematic abuses by ‘Israeli’ prison authorities, according to testimony collected by the Prisoners’ Media Office and other advocacy organisations.

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In a statement released on Monday, the Office said that in four separate incidents in December, prison guards carried out violent raids on women’s quarters, forcing detainees into open yards, stripping them of their clothes, and beating them, particularly in the legs. 

Violence and degrading treatment

Guards used sound grenades and police dogs during the operations, resulting in injuries among the women. Witnesses described scenes of detainees forced to sit on the ground under duress while being physically assaulted. 

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One released detainee, Aisha Awad Al-Obayat, said that some of the harshest crackdowns occurred as recently as yesterday, with women forced face-down, beaten with boots and restrained in painful plastic handcuffs. She added that some detainees fainted or suffered untreated injuries amid the chaos. 

Rights groups and lawyers have also pointed to ongoing medical neglect, poor detention conditions and insufficient food and hygiene supplies inside the prison, contributing to deteriorating health among the women. Similar complaints about cold cells, limited daily yard time and inadequate meals have appeared in past testimonies from detained women. 

Broader concerns and international calls

Advocates warn that the abuses reflect a broader pattern of maltreatment in ‘Israeli’ detention facilities. Palestinians and human rights monitors have previously documented systematic restrictions, humiliation tactics and physical violence against female detainees in Damon and other facilities, with calls from international organisations for independent investigations. 

The Prisoners’ Media Office held ‘Israeli’ authorities fully responsible for the safety and well-being of detainees, urging human rights and humanitarian bodies to intervene urgently to stop the reported escalation of violence against women in detention.