In the prisons of the occupation, where humanity disappears behind walls of oppression and repression, Palestinian female detainees endure a bitter reality full of injustice and oppression. Their daily suffering goes beyond mere detention; it extends to an attempt to crush every aspect of their humanity.

In a new arbitrary measure, the Palestinian Authority’s Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs reported: “Damon Prison administration, where Palestinian female detainees are held, confiscated their jilbabs, hijabs, and niqabs, and forced them to wear only gray sportswear without the hijab.” The Commission noted that this decision came after a change in the prison’s administration and the appointment of a new warden. The detainees were informed that these new regulations would be continuously enforced, and that this was in retaliation for the events of October 7, 2023.

The Commission added that the situation for the 94 female detainees in “Israeli“ prisons has descended from bad to worse. The Damon Prison administration did not stop at the punitive measures it had imposed on them over the past year, and now, the confiscation of their hijabs has been added to the list of abuses.

According to testimonies from detainees whom the Commission’s lawyers were able to visit, the detainees’ rooms are subjected to daily arbitrary searches at dawn. The administration enters the section, selects one or two rooms, removes the detainees, and holds them for over an hour in the “fawra” (the open-air courtyard inside the prison).

The Commission also reported that female guards carry out strip searches on the detainees during these raids, and they seize their simple belongings, such as empty plastic containers they use as substitutes for cups. The guards have also confiscated threads the detainees pulled from blankets to use in making bracelets as a form of entertainment during the long daytime hours in their rooms.

Furthermore, the female detainees in Damon prison suffer from a severe shortage of hygiene supplies and room maintenance materials, as well as a lack of blankets, especially as temperatures drop with the arrival of winter. They endure the harsh cold at night and early in the morning.

The Commission’s lawyer also reported, based on testimonies from the detainees, that the “starvation policy” enforced by the prison administration has caused hormonal changes and side effects in their bodies for months.

All of these violations against Palestinian female detainees occur in front of women’s rights institutions, international organizations, and human rights bodies that have long advocated for women’s rights and equality. These principles, however, completely disappear when it comes to the treatment of Palestinian women by the Usurping Entity.