What is Israel's administrative detention system used against Palestinians like Ahed Tamimi?

The New Arab Staff
28 November, 2023

Approximately 150 Palestinians have been released by Israel who were detained under the notorious administrative detention system, without charge or trial

Israeli forces have detained thousands of Palestinians in the West Bank since 7 October [Getty


Around 98 or 150 Palestinian detainees released since a Hamas-Israel hostage swap deal began on Friday were subject to the notorious administrative detention system which allows prisoners to be held indefinitely, without charge.

Administrative detention has been increasingly utilised by Israel, reaching levels not seen in decades, with hundreds more detained in the occupied West Bank since 7 October.

Of those released as part of the truce deal, 119 were children and 31 women.

Amnesty International has highlighted a significant increase in these detentions, saying they were "already at a 20-year high before the latest escalation in hostilities on 7 October" and denouncing them as a part of Israel's apartheid practices against Palestinians.

"Administrative detention is one of the key tools through which Israel has enforced its system of apartheid against Palestinians.

"Testimonies and video evidence also point to numerous incidents of torture and other ill-treatment by Israeli forces including severe beatings and deliberate humiliation of Palestinians who are detained in dire conditions," said Heba Morayef, Amnesty’s Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa.

How does the administrative detention system work?

The administrative detention system allows Israel to detain individuals without formal charge or trial, based on the premise that they might pose a future threat.

The detentions are authorised by military commanders and are based on classified evidence that isn't disclosed to the detainees. They are often renewed indefinitely, leaving prisoners in a state of uncertainty, without knowing the charges against them or when they might be released.

This lack of transparency and indefinite nature of the detentions has been condemned by human rights organisations as a violation of international law and an element of Israel's broader measures to control and persecute Palestinians.

How many Palestinians are affected by this system?

As of June 2023, 1,083 out of 5,000 Palestinians detained in Israeli prisons were kept under the administrative detention system. These included three women and 19 children, according to the Palestinian Prisoners' Club.

Data gathered by human rights organisations shows a dramatic increase in the number of Palestinians detained under this system since 7 October.

Between 7 October and 25 November, over 3,160 Palestinians were detained in total by Israel.

The total number of Palestinians held in administrative detention also increased sharply around this time. Between 1 October and 1 November, the total number of Palestinians held in administrative detention, without charge or trial, rose from 1,319 to 2,070, the Israeli human rights organization HaMoked said.


Ahed Tamimi 'could be freed' as part of truce extension

These recent detainees have been part of ongoing negotiations for the release of Israeli hostages held by Hamas. Palestinian human rights activist Ahed Tamimi, one of those detained by Israel since 7 October, is reportedly among the most notable figures linked to these exchanges.

Since 1967, Israel has implemented over 1,000 military orders that have criminalised various aspects of Palestinian identity and expression, including political speech and symbolic acts like waving the Palestinian flag, often leading to arrests under charges of 'incitement'.

The Israeli NGO B'tselem says that, since March 2002, "not a single month has gone by without Israel holding at least 100 Palestinians in administrative detention".

How Israel keeps hundreds of Palestinians in detention without charge

"Administrative detention is an anathema in any democratic society that follows the rule of law," 

Ishaan Tharoor, Nov 29 2023

ANALYSIS: A four-day pause in hostilities between Israel and the militant group Hamas was extended by two more days, instead of expiring Tuesday morning, lengthening the brief reprieve offered to Gaza's 2.1 million Palestinians, who have endured weeks of relentless Israeli bombardments.

The move also gave further hope to the families of Israeli hostages abducted by Hamas during its October 7 strike on southern Israel.

Through Qatari and Egyptian mediators, the two sides had agreed on an initial release of 50 hostages in Gaza and about 150 Palestinians, mostly teenagers and some women, imprisoned by Israel, over the four-day period.

Sixty-nine hostages – the majority Israeli but also Thai, Philippine, French, Argentine and Russian citizens and others – and more than 100 Palestinians were released over the first four days.

The extension raises the possibility of more captive exchanges and more moments of joy for their friends and loved ones. But for freed Palestinians, the context in which they return is more barbed and fraught. In lists distributed to media, Israeli authorities label all the prisoners up for release as "terrorists".

Some were convicted of crimes such as attempted murder; others were detained for activities like "throwing stones" or carrying knives. And a few, like 59-year-old Hanan Barghouti, the eldest female prisoner to be released, were in indefinite Israeli custody without any charge.


NASSER NASSER/AP
Former Palestinian female prisoner Hanan Barghouti, who was released by the Israeli authorities, talks to the media upon her arrival in the West Bank town of Beitunia, on November 24, 2023.

While there were scenes of jubilation in Ramallah in the West Bank as a group of released prisoners met their families over the weekend, Itamar Ben Gvir, Israel's far-right national security minister, issued directives cracking down on such celebrations in East Jerusalem, where the Israeli police can directly operate.

"My instructions are clear: there are to be no expressions of joy," he said. "Expressions of joy are equivalent to backing terrorism, victory celebrations give backing to those human scum, for those Nazis."


AMIR LEVY/GETTY IMAGES
Israeli Minister of National Security Itamar Ben Gvir in Tel Aviv, Israel, on July 4, 2023.

Meanwhile, in the West Bank, most of which is under Israel's military administration, Israeli authorities have detained roughly as many Palestinians as have been released in the past few days.

A post-October 7 crackdown saw the Palestinian population in Israeli custody almost double, by some measures: According to Palestinian rights groups, more than 3000 Palestinians, mostly in the West Bank, were swept up by Israeli security forces. The majority appear to be held in administrative detention – that is, a form of incarceration without charge or trial that authorities can renew indefinitely.

Under international law, the practice of administrative detention is supposed to be used only in exceptional circumstances. But, as Israeli and international human rights groups document, it has become more the norm in the West Bank. Even before October 7, smouldering tensions and violence in the West Bank had led to a three-decade high in administrative detentions.

Then, according to the Israeli human rights organisation HaMoked, the total number of Palestinians in administrative detention went from 1319 on October 1 to 2070 on November 1 – close to a third of the total Palestinian prisoner population.

NASSER NASSER/AP
Omar Atshan, 17, is hugged by his mother after being released from an Israeli prison on November 26, 2023.

Israel's critics contend that even those charged with specific crimes face a skewed, unfair justice system. Palestinians in the West Bank are subject to Israeli military courts, unlike the half-million Jewish settlers who live in their midst. These courts have in some years churned out convictions at a 99% rate, a state of affairs that raises questions about the due process afforded to Palestinians.

"Palestinians are routinely denied counsel, for example, and faced with language barriers and mistranslations that taint testimonies and confessions used in court," explained Vox's Abdallah Fayyad.

"But it's not only a lack of due process that plagues this legal system. Often times, these cases are based on specious and far-reaching charges."

NASSER NASSER/AP
Omar Atshan, 17, was released from Israeli prison into the West Bank town of Ramallah, on November 26, 2023.

The dynamics of the Israeli carceral system for Palestinians have long undergirded anger over the broader nature of Israel's military occupation of the Palestinian territories.

"The power to incarcerate people who have not been convicted or even charged with anything for lengthy periods of time, based on secret 'evidence' that they cannot challenge, is an extreme power," noted Israeli human rights group B'Tselem.

"Israel uses it continuously and extensively, routinely holding hundreds of Palestinians at any given moment."

NASSER NASSER/AP
Released Palestinian prisoners arrive in the West Bank town of Ramallah on November 28, 2023.

The deepening crisis that followed Hamas' bloody rampage on October 7 has only exacerbated tensions.

"Administrative detention is one of the key tools through which Israel has enforced its system of apartheid against Palestinians," Heba Morayef, Amnesty International's regional director for the Middle East and North Africa, said in a statement this month, citing numerous reports of abuses suffered by Palestinian detainees in recent weeks.

"Testimonies and video evidence also point to numerous incidents of torture and other ill-treatment by Israeli forces including severe beatings and deliberate humiliation of Palestinians who are detained in dire conditions."

Israeli authorities have argued over the years that their practice of administrative detention is in line with policies in other democracies and constitutes a necessary preventive measure, given the security conditions that shape the West Bank.

The feeble Palestinian Authority, which has long worked hand-in-glove with Israeli security agencies, has struggled to tamp down rising anger and militancy among Palestinians in the West Bank.

NASSER NASSER/AP
33 Palestinian prisoners were released by Israel into east Jerusalem and Ramallah on November 28, 2023.

In recent weeks, Israeli government officials have lashed out at censure from UN officials and organisations like Amnesty International, which an Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesperson described as "antisemitic" and "biased".

But Israel's widespread use of the practice has been long criticised by international observers. A 2012 European parliamentary report described administrative detention as a tactic employed "principally to constrain Palestinian political activism".

In 2020, Michael Lynk, then the UN special rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territories, called on Israel to abolish the practice.

"Administrative detention is an anathema in any democratic society that follows the rule of law," Lynk said.

"When the democratic state arrests and detains someone, it is required to charge the person, present its evidence in an open trial, allow for a full defence and try to persuade an impartial judiciary of its allegations beyond a reasonable doubt."

Israel incarcerating 44 Palestinian journalists — media body

Israel is holding 29 journalists in addition to 15 already languishing in its jails, says Palestinian Journalists Syndicate.



AA

The syndicate says 70 journalists and media workers, mostly Palestinian. have been killed in the Israeli bombardment of besieged Gaza since October 7. / Photo: AA

At least 44 Palestinian journalists are languishing in Israeli jails, and 29 of them were seized since October 7, a local journalists group has said.

In a statement on Tuesday, the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate [PJS] said: "The Israeli occupation forces released 12 of the detained journalists after serving various terms."

It added: "29 journalists are still under arrest." About 15 journalists are already incarcerated in Israeli jails.

The syndicate released a list of the names of 29 journalists detained by Israel in its statement, most of whom are held under administrative arrest [arrest without trial or charge].

The syndicate released on Saturday the names of 70 journalists and media workers who have been killed in the Israeli bombardment of besieged Gaza since October 7.

The list of martyred journalists ranges from technicians, cameramen, editors and investigative journalists.

Three other journalists have been killed in Lebanon.

Israel's war on besieged Gaza has killed over 15,000 Palestinians so far, including 6,150 children and 4,000 women, according to health authorities in the enclave.