Palestinian rights group calls for release of pregnant women held by Israel

A prisoner advocacy group has called for urgent international intervention to secure the release of three pregnant Palestinian women held under harsh conditions at the Israeli regime’s Damon Prison.

In a statement released on Monday, the Palestinian Prisoner Society held Israeli authorities fully responsible for the fate of Amina al-Taweel, Dana Jouda, and Manar Ibrahim.

“The women are being held under severe conditions and in unprecedented isolation. The International Committee of the Red Cross has been barred from visiting prisoners since the start of Israel’s war on Gaza,” the statement said.

It added that their families are also denied visits, like all Palestinian prisoners in Israeli custody.

Amina al-Taweel, 37, from Qalqilya, is four months pregnant. She is a mother of four and the wife of a former prisoner who spent a total of 19 years in Israeli prisons. She was arrested on March 18, 2026.

Dana Jouda, 35, from Nablus, is five months pregnant and a mother of one. She has been held since April 18, 2026, under arbitrary administrative detention for six months.

Manar Ibrahim, 28, from Ramallah, is four months pregnant and a mother of two. She was detained on April 30, 2026, on charges of “incitement” on social media.

The three women are among 93 Palestinian women currently held in Israeli prisons, most of them at Damon Prison in the northern occupied territories.

Testimonies collected through legal visits and from released detainees indicate that female prisoners have faced intensified punitive measures, including repeated raids, invasive searches, and other forms of mistreatment.

Pregnant detainees, in particular, suffer from inadequate healthcare, food shortages, and severe psychological pressure, despite their specific medical needs.

The Palestinian Prisoner Society stated that holding pregnant women under such conditions violates international humanitarian law and human rights standards, including protections for pregnant women under the Fourth Geneva Convention.

‘War crimes’: Hamas condemns torture and abuse of Palestinian women in Israeli jails

The Palestinian Resistance Movement Hamas condemns the escalating crimes and violations against Palestinian female prisoners held in Israeli jails.

The group urged international human rights organizations, United Nations special rapporteurs, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and UN bodies dealing with women’s rights and arbitrary detention to take immediate action to secure the release of the three women and ensure they receive international protection.

Since the start of Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza in October 2023, Israel has arrested more than 765 Palestinian women, including girls, elderly women, students, lawyers, journalists, activists, teachers, housewives, and doctors.

Around 9,500 Palestinians remain in Israeli prisons, where detainees face torture, starvation, and medical neglect that have led to dozens of deaths.

These developments come amid Israel’s ongoing brutal aggression, which has killed more than 73,000 Palestinians and injured over 173,000 since October 2023, the majority of them women and children.

Press TV’s website can also be accessed at the following alternate addresses:

www.presstv.ir