Palestinian Prisoners’ Institutions Hold Israeli Occupation Fully Responsible For Fate Of Female Journalist Bushra Al-Tawil – Held Without Trial Or Charge, In Solitary Confinement For Past Month

Prison Authorities Intensify Systematic Isolation of Palestinian Female Prisoners as Scabies Disease Spreads Amid Denial Of Medical Care

September 20, 2026

Ramallah, occupied Palestine –Palestinian Prisoners organizations hold the occupying authorities fully responsible for the fate of administrative detainee Bushra Al-Tawil (33), from the city of Al-Bireh, following nearly a month of her isolation in the “Neve Tirtza” isolation cells, to which she was transferred from the isolation cells at “Damon” Prison. In a joint statement issued today, Sunday, the organizations warned that Al-Tawil’s case exemplifies a broader pattern of escalation against women prisoners, combining systematic isolation with repression, medical crimes, and the spread of diseases, which have become a tool of torture.

The organizations explained that Al-Tawil has been held in administrative detention since February of this year and is among the prominent women prisoners who have faced administrative detention over the past several years. She is the daughter of administrative detainee Jamal Al-Tawil, who spent years in the occupation’s prisons. Her case reflects how administrative detention has become a recurring experience passed from one generation to another within the same Palestinian family. The organizations called for the immediate release of Al-Tawil and an end to her isolation.

The occupying authorities have arrested her twice since the onset of the genocide. She is among 21 women administrative detainees out of a total of 88 women prisoners, following the release of prisoner Suheir Al-Za’qiq from the town of Beit Ummar.

Among the women prisoners are 35 mothers, including two pregnant prisoners. This follows the release of pregnant prisoner Dana Joudeh, who gave birth in a hospital while in detention, after going into labor while being held at “Damon” Prison. These figures demonstrate that the impact of detention does not stop with the women prisoners themselves, but extends to their children and families, while placing pregnant women and mothers in an environment where diseases are spreading and patients are denied treatment.

The organizations stated that Al-Tawil’s case brings public attention to one of the most significant developments imposed by the prison system: the marked escalation of its isolation policy. Through special units, the Prison Service carries out systematic repression operations in which one of the rooms or cells is selected, and, once the operation is completed, a group of women prisoners is transferred to isolation cells within “Damon” Prison without being informed of the reasons. This practice has become systematic, particularly over the past several months. Isolation without stated reasons deprives a prisoner of any genuine possibility of knowing what she is accused of or challenging it, thereby intensifying its psychological impact.

The organizations stressed that the targeting of women prisoners through repression operations has escalated unprecedentedly since March 2026. According to lawyers’ visits, during these operations, women prisoners are forced to lie on their stomachs, have their hands restrained behind their backs, and are forced to lower their heads before being taken out into the prison yard. The entire repression operation is filmed each time, adding an element of humiliation and violation of privacy. This scene is one of hundreds reflecting the level of abuse and torture inflicted on women prisoners. The abuse is not limited to the physical repression itself. The Prison Service also engages in prior intimidation by informing women prisoners that a repression operation will be carried out during the day, leaving them in a constant state of anxiety and anticipation, with some unable to sleep until the early hours of the morning.

The organizations noted that what women prisoners experience inside “Damon” Prison is only one stage in a longer process, in addition to the interrogation stage and the period of detention at “Hasharon” Prison. These are two stages during which the occupation authorities, including the Israeli intelligence, primarily employ methods of torture, abuse, and psychological humiliation in an effort to pressure the prisoner into making confessions.

In the same context, the organizations affirmed that health risks among women prisoners are increasing as the scabies outbreak continues, amid the Prison Service’s refusal to acknowledge the disease, claiming instead that the women prisoners are suffering from allergies. In contrast, legal teams that have followed up on hundreds of prisoners infected with scabies confirm that the symptoms appearing on the women prisoners’ bodies and the symptoms they report are consistent with scabies. Some cases have begun to experience spasms following infection. The women prisoners suffer from severe itching that does not subside until their bodies begin to bleed, and, in the absence of necessary treatment, they have been forced to use chlorine to alleviate the itching. Many have lost the ability to sleep.

The organizations considered that the continuation of these conditions, together with the denial of treatment and healthcare, forms part of a broader system of systematic torture policies and medical crimes against prisoners, in which diseases and epidemics, combined with the denial of medical care, are used as tools to exhaust prisoners and endanger their lives, leaving profound physical and psychological effects. These practices contradict the occupying authorities’ obligations under international law.

The organizations renewed their call on the World Health Organization and all international human rights and humanitarian organizations to take urgent and immediate action to halt systematic medical crimes against prisoners, and to pressure the occupying authorities to end the policies and conditions that have turned prisons into a fertile environment for diseases and epidemics. They also called for ensuring the provision of necessary treatment and healthcare to all prisoners, particularly those suffering from infectious and serious diseases.