The Israeli Supreme Court ruled that Israel must feed detained Palestinians three meals a day. National Security Minister Itmar Ben Gvir has touted creating harsh conditions in Israeli prisons for Palestinians.
The three-judge panel ruled Sunday that prisoners are fed three meals a day to ensure “a basic level of existence.” The court was split 2-1. The issue was brought by Israeli human rights groups, who said a system of desperation had been installed for Palestinian prisoners.
“We are not speaking here of comfortable living or luxury, but of the basic conditions of survival as required by law,” the ruling said. “Let us not share in the ways of our worst enemies.”
Since October 7, 2023, scores of Palestinians have died in Israeli captivity. Numerous international organizations, Western media, and Israeli news outlets have documented Israel’s torture, beatings, medical neglect, and rape of Palestinian captives.
According to data obtained by 972 Magazine, only one in four Palestinians detained by Israel are members of Hamas or Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
Ben Gvir, who runs Israel’s prisons, has bragged about the brutal conditions for Palestinians in detention. In a July 2024 X post, he wrote, “One of the top goals I set for myself was to worsen the conditions of terrorists in prisons and reduce their privileges to the minimum required by law.”
“I waged an all-out war to implement the long-awaited reform of their conditions and to fulfill the mandate I received from the public.” The post continued, “The terrorists’ conditions in prison were reduced to the minimum: we stopped financial deposits, canceled the canteens for terrorists, removed electrical appliances from cells, ended the terrorists’ promenade, drastically reduced their time in showers, abolished the spokesperson status, stopped the indulgent food menu and replaced it with a minimal one.”
הגיע הזמן לפרק את הספינים, ולענות למבול התדרוכים וההאשמות השקריות של השב”כ ודובריו בתקשורת.
מאז שנכנסתי לתפקידי כשר לביטחון לאומי, אחת המטרות העליונות שהצבתי לעצמי היא הרעת תנאי המחבלים בבתי הסוהר, וצמצום זכויותיהם למינימום המתחייב על פי חוק. כך התחייבתי לבוחריי ולעם ישראל עוד…
— איתמר בן גביר (@itamarbengvir) July 2, 2024
Ben Gvir vowed to defy the Supreme Court’s order. “Justices of the Supreme Court, are you Israel’s?” he wrote. “We will continue to provide the imprisoned terrorists in jails with the minimum conditions required by law.”
שופטי בג״צ, אתם של ישראל?
לחטופים שלנו בעזה אין בג״צ שמגן עליהם. לנוחבות הרוצחים, החוטפים והאנסים המתועבים, יש לבושתנו בג״צ שמגן עליהם.
נמשיך לספק למחבלים הכלואים בבתי הסוהר את התנאים המינימליים ביותר הקבועים בחוק.
— איתמר בן גביר (@itamarbengvir) September 7, 2025
