A nation behind the railings: Why has Israel imprison 10,000 Palestinians?

The number of political prisoners in Israeli prisons has doubled since the start of the war, According to Al Jazeera.

On April 17, each year, the day of Palestinian prisoners is honored to highlight the dire position of those held in Israeli prisons and their struggle for freedom against the continued occupation of their land.

The day marks the liberation of Mahmoud Bakr Hitzazi in 1974, the first Palestinian to be released into an exchange of prisoners with Israel.

Later this day was set to honor all the Palestinian prisoners who are still in the Israeli prisons and whose rights are being violated.

There are currently nearly 10,000 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons in Israel and in the occupied territories, according to the ADDameer prisoner’s rights.

For these Palestinians they are political prisoners who need to be liberated.

Source: Al Jazeera

Of those who are in custody:

• 498 are held without an official category or trial
• 400 are children
• 27 are women
• 299 are serving life sentences

Administrative prisoners, including women and children, can be held by the army for semesters that are constantly renewed, based on « secret elements » that neither the prisoner nor his lawyer is allowed to see.

Boys with tied eyes play the role of prisoners during a gathering for Palestinian prisoners (file: Raneen Sawafta/Reuters)

400 children inmates – the case of Ahmad Manasra

Israel is the only country in the world to be judged by children in military courts.

According to Defense for Children Palestine, about 500 to 700 Palestinian children are detained and prosecuted in the Israeli military judicial system each year – some of them are only 12 years old.

Ahmad Manasra – ‘They stole you from me’

Cartoon: Ahmad QadDura

The most common category is that they have thrown stones, a crime punished in accordance with military law with up to 20 years in prison.

Currently, 400 children remain in Israeli prisons, most of them are in pre -trial detention and have not been convicted of any offense.

One of the toughest cases of prisoners is that of Ahmed Manassra, who was arrested at the age of 13, was brutally questioned and then convicted.

Ahmad was with Hassan’s cousin, who allegedly stabbed two Israeli settlers near an illegal Israeli settlement in the occupied East Jerusalem in 2015.

Hassan, who was 15 years old, was shot and killed by an Israeli citizen, while Ahmad was seriously beaten by an Israeli mob and carried out by a car.

He suffered fractures in his skull and internal bleeding.

Ahmad Manasra, Source: Democracynow.com

At that time, the Israeli law stipulated that children under the age of 14 could not be considered criminal responsible.

To bypass this, the Israeli authorities waited until Manassra became 14 years old to condemn him. The law changed in August 2016 to allow the prosecution of children less than 14.

Ahmad was accused of attempted murder and sentenced to 12 years in prison. The sentence was later reduced to 9.5 years.

Ahmad has long suffered from mental health problems. At the end of 2021, a psychiatrist was given a psychiatrist by doctors without borders (MSF) the opportunity to visit him and diagnosed him with schizophrenia. This was the first time he was allowed to see him as an external doctor.

On April 10, 2025, after spending more than nine years behind the railings, Ahmad was finally released at the age of 23.

Palestinian prisoners doubled by October 7

From October 2023, until April 2025, the number of Palestinian political prisoners doubled, from 5,250 to almost 10,000.

Since October 7, Israel has reserved about 30,000 Palestinians.

Source: Al Jazeera

During Hamas captives with Hamas, Israel has released just over 2,000 Palestinians.

This means that, for every person who is released, holding others 15.

During the latest exchanging of the ceasefire earlier this year, 739 Palestinians from Gaza were released, ie the 15,000 arrested.

On the occupied West Bank, 652 were released, but almost 14,500 have been arrested.

Exchange of captives

During the almost two -month ceasefire earlier this year, Israel liberated 1,793 Palestinian political prisoners, while Hamas released 38 Israeli prisoners, including eight corpses.

The majority of those released were from Gaza, with 739 liberated – 337 from northern Gaza, 227 from the city of Gaza and 151 by Han Younes, some of the toughest affected areas of the war.

In the occupied West Bank, at least 652 prisoners were released, with most coming from Ramala (118), Hebron (111) and Nablus (79).

One million Palestinians since 1967

Israel’s detention policies have deeply influenced the life of the Palestinians for decades.

According to the Palestinian Committee of Prisoners and former Prisoners, since 1967, Israeli forces have captured about one million Palestinians, or about 20% of the Palestinian population.

Statistically, this means that one in five Palestinians has been imprisoned at some point in his life.

For many families, conception has become inevitable.

This systemic practice has fragmented communities and perpetuated the cycle of trauma and violence.

As the Israeli arrest campaign continues, many Palestinians are afraid that mass imprisonment is not only a by -product of the Occupation, but a deliberate control tool.

For the thousands behind the rails today, freedom remains uncertain, just as it was for generations before them.