Palestinian prisoners in Gilboa high-security prison in Israel. (Credit: AFP)
BEIRUT — Israel’s High Court of Justice ruled Sunday that the Prison Service must provide security prisoners, a term it uses for Palestinian detainees, with “basic living conditions, including adequate quantities of food appropriate to preserve their health,” Haaretz reported Monday.
The ruling responded to a petition filed by the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) and Gisha, an Israeli NGO dedicated to protecting Palestinians’ freedom of movement, challenging new restrictions imposed by Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir following the Hamas attack on Oct. 7, 2023, and the Israeli war against Gaza.
According to data from the Israeli NGO HaMoked, based on data from the Israel Prison Service (IPS), 10,068 Palestinians classified as "security detainees" are incarcerated by Israel as of this date, often outside of traditional judicial procedures. This is twice as many as in October 2023.
Ben-Gvir, who oversees the prison system, admitted last year to reducing conditions for security prisoners "to the bare legal minimum," according to the Times of Israel. He criticized the court ruling on Sunday, asking the judges, "Are you from Israel?"
He accused the Supreme Court of defending Hamas "to our disgrace, while Israeli hostages in Gaza remain without support." Ben-Gvir vowed to maintain the policy of providing prisoners with "the most minimal conditions stipulated by law," Haaretz reported.
Before the war, prisoners could buy and prepare their own food, according to Haaretz. After the Israeli war on Gaza broke out, the Prison Service took full control of food distribution, cutting off access to commissaries and cooking tools. Petitioners argued this led to hunger, malnutrition, and severe weight loss among prisoners, Haaretz reported.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu criticized the ruling on Monday and accused the court of being "part of the war."
"We do not make it easy on our enemies; we will beat them head-on, and that is how you should act too," Netanyahu said.
'We are not speaking here of comfortable living or luxury'
In a 2-1 decision, the court sided with ACRI and Gisha, accepting their claims that the government’s deliberate restrictions on prisoner food caused malnutrition and starvation during the Israel-Hamas war. Judges Daphne Barak-Erez and Ofer Grosskopf found “indications” that the Prison Service was failing to meet its legal obligations, while Judge David Mintz dissented, stating that prisoners receive adequate food.
The ruling emphasized, “We are not speaking here of comfortable living or luxury, but of the basic conditions of survival as required by law. Let us not share in the ways of our worst enemies.”
Barak-Erez criticized the state’s defense as “unsatisfactory,” noting it failed to prove that menus were properly implemented. She ordered the government to create lawful menus, monitor prisoners’ health, and address individual dietary needs. “This is not a matter of luxuries, but the basic conditions of life required by law,” she wrote. “Do not let us become like the worst of our enemies.”
A report from the Israeli Public Defender’s Office described prison visits revealing “very harsh conditions,” including lack of food and medical care, Haaretz reported.
While Mintz agreed the state must feed prisoners, he maintained that the current policy meets legal standards.
ACRI legal adviser Oded Feller praised the ruling, saying it ended Ben-Gvir’s “policy of starving the security prisoners,” calling the prisons “torture camps.” He added, “A country does not starve people. People do not starve people — and it doesn't matter what they did.”
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