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Israeli prison chief warns of escalation as Palestinians suffer in detention

Tuesday, 16 December 2025 6:03 PM [ Last Update: Tuesday, 16 December 2025 6:03 PM ]

Israel's prison chief commissioner Kobi Yaakobi speaks to a Knesset committee on December 16, 2025.

Israel's prison chief has warned that jails are "on the brink" of a dangerous escalation as conditions for Palestinian prisoners continue to deteriorate amid Israel’s ongoing genocidal campaign across the occupied territories.

Kobi Yaakobi, Israel’s prison service chief commissioner, made the remarks during a briefing to Knesset members on Tuesday, linking developments inside prisons to Israel’s broader military operations against Palestinians in Gaza and other occupied areas.

“If there is a feeling that the ‘war of resistance’ is at low intensity—I don’t know what will develop in the north or south—but inside the prisons, I can say with certainty that we are on the brink of an incident,” Yaakobi said, describing the situation behind bars as especially "volatile."

He added that senior resistance fighters still imprisoned in Israeli jails have “demonstrated operational capabilities,” and noted a recent uptick in prison blueprints found in the possession of “security inmates.”

According to Yaakobi, such blueprints typically include details like “where there are locks, where there is a prison guard,” information that could aid a jailbreak.

Rights groups have repeatedly warned that Israel’s prison system has become another front in the regime's war, with Palestinian prisoners facing intensified repression, collective punishment, and worsening conditions.

Israel escalates abduction of Palestinian women, girls under ‘social media incitement’ pretext: Rights group

A Palestinian human rights organization has warned that the Israeli military has markedly stepped up the abduction of female Palestinians under the pretext of “social media incitement.”

Israel has intensified its violations against Palestinians held in Israeli prisons, with reports pointing to a growing number of deaths caused by harsh detention conditions, including a lack of medical care and mistreatment.

Since October 2023, more than 100 Palestinian detainees have died in Israeli custody, with many Gazan prisoners still subjected to enforced disappearance.

In November, Israel released nearly 2,000 prisoners, 1,700 of them from Gaza, under a ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement with the Hamas resistance movement.

Many of those released were in poor health, recounting experiences of torture, starvation, and humiliation during their time in Israeli prisons.

Currently, nearly 10,000 Palestinians, including women and children, remain in Israeli prisons, where medical neglect and harsh conditions have contributed to multiple deaths, according to reports from both Palestinian and Israeli human rights organizations.

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