The Supreme Court in Israel has ruled that the government is not providing sufficient food for basic subsistence to Palestinian inmates held in the State’s prisons. Ordering the government to cease the starvation of prisoners, the decision represents a rare case in which the top court ruled against Israel’s conduct in Gaza.

Since launching its military offensive on Gaza in October 2023, Israel has taken thousands of prisoners on suspicion of links to Hamas. Many have been released without charges after months of detention. Authorities often also detain children, prosecuting them in military courts, often under charges of “throwing stones” which can carry 20-year prison sentences.

Human rights groups have documented widespread abuse in the detention facilities, with reports of insufficient food and healthcare, poor sanitary conditions and beatings. In March this year, a 17-year-old Palestinian boy died while being detained in an Israeli prison, with doctors saying starvation was likely the main cause.

In 2024, Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who oversees the prison system, reduced the conditions for prisoners to what he said were the “bare minimum” required by Israeli law. The Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) and the Israeli rights group Gisha brought a petition alleging that the change in policy was leading to malnutrition and starvation in the prisons.

In a ruling delivered on Sunday, September 7, Israel’s Supreme Court stated that the government is legally obliged to provide enough food to ensure “a basic level of existence”. The three-judge panel further stated that they found “indications that the current food supply to prisoners does not sufficiently guarantee compliance with the legal standard”.

With this decision, the court ordered the government and the prison service to “take steps to ensure the supply of food that allows for basic subsistence conditions in accordance with the law”.

Following the verdict, ACRI called on the government to immediately implement the necessary measures, saying that the prison service has “turned Israeli prisons into torture camps”.

“A state does not starve people,” the group said in a statement. “People do not starve people – no matter what they have done.”

Over 64,000 Palestinians have been killed since Israel launched its genocidal military assault on Gaza in October 2023. Despite international calls to halt the offensive and pressure mounting in Israel as well, Prime Minister Netanyahu has stated that the IDF will intensify operations in Gaza City.

According to the world’s leading monitor on food crises, people in Gaza are currently facing the “worst-case scenario of famine” due to an aid blockade imposed by Israel. The blockade is causing what the World Health Organization (WHO) described as a “man-made” mass starvation.

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