Watan-A Palestinian prisoner has died in Israeli detention following public declarations by far-right Israeli Minister of National Security Itamar Ben Gvir, who openly admitted issuing orders to starve and brutalize Palestinian detainees—conditions described by former inmates as turning prisons into death chambers.
The Palestinian Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoners Club announced the martyrdom of Samir Mohammad Yousef Al-Rifai (53), from the town of Rummanah in Jenin. Al-Rifai, a father of five, was arrested from his home on July 10. His first court session was scheduled to be held today at Israel’s “Salem” military court. According to medical reports, he had pre-existing heart conditions requiring medical follow-up.
His death brings the total number of known prisoners and detainees killed since the beginning of Israel’s “war of extermination” on October 7, 2023, to 74, with 311 prisoners killed since 1967. Human rights groups say this is the bloodiest period in the history of the Palestinian prisoner movement. Some of the post-October 7 deaths were among prisoners who had no prior medical conditions.
The Commission and the Prisoners Club emphasized that this spike in deaths is the inevitable result of escalating abuses, including torture, starvation, medical neglect, sexual violence, and deliberately imposed conditions that cause infectious or terminal illnesses. They held Israel fully responsible and urged the international human rights system to take concrete action to hold Israeli leaders accountable for war crimes.
Al-Rifai’s death was announced shortly after Ben Gvir publicly admitted, during a Supreme Court session examining the food cuts in Israeli prisons, that he personally ordered punitive measures. “I’m proud—very proud,” he said, boasting about his new prison policies. “In the past, they entered prison skinny and left fat. They had everything in jail. I changed that.”
He added: “I hope the Supreme Court doesn’t interfere. These changes will act as a deterrent. Terrorists won’t want to go to jail anymore. The ‘minimum of the minimum’ policy is effective and should continue.”
Since taking office, Ben Gvir has imposed a series of harsh crackdowns on Palestinian prisoners, including cutting shower time, limiting yard access and family visits, confiscating personal belongings, and banning clothes and blankets from being brought in.
Following October 7, these punishments worsened dramatically. Beatings by Israeli special forces became routine, cells were locked down, and food portions were drastically cut—both in quantity and quality.
Freed Palestinian prisoners, recently released in swap deals with Hamas, told Al-Quds Al-Arabi that the prison environment completely changed under Ben Gvir’s leadership. They described random beatings, denial of medical treatment even during heart attacks, and chains being placed on sick inmates transferred to hospitals.
One prisoner who spent 22 years behind bars said conditions after October 7 were the worst he had ever experienced. He recalled that five prisoners were forced to share food insufficient even for a child, and that it often came spoiled and foul-smelling. “Israeli prisons have turned into graves,” he said.
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