TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — In a highly rare exercise of wartime legal restraint, Israel’s Supreme Court ruled Sunday that the Israeli government has deprived Palestinian detainees of even a minimum subsistence diet and ordered authorities to increase the amount and improve the quality of food served to deprived Palestinian inmates. Although it’s the job of the Supreme Court to advise the government of the legality of its policies, the Israeli judiciary has seldom taken issue with its actions in the 23-month Israel-Hamas war.
Since Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel that killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, Israel has largely rejected growing international criticism of its conduct by arguing that it was doing what was necessary to defeat Hamas. The Israeli army has detained large numbers of Palestinians in Gaza and the occupied West Bank on suspicion of militant ties. Thousands have been released from months of detention in camps and jails without charge to tell of brutal conditions, including overcrowding, scant food supplies, inadequate medical attention and scabies outbreaks.
The three-judge panel ruled unanimously that the Israeli government had a legal duty to provide Palestinian prisoners with three meals a day to ensure 'a basic level of existence' and ordered authorities to fulfill that obligation. In an unexpected 2-1 decision, the court accepted the petition filed last year by the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, or ACRI, and the Israeli rights group Gisha, siding with their allegations that the government’s deliberate restriction of prisoners’ food has caused Palestinians to suffer malnutrition and starvation during the Israel-Hamas war.
Palestinian authorities have recorded the deaths of at least 61 Palestinians in Israeli custody since the war started. In March, a 17-year-old Palestinian in Israeli prison died of what doctors said was likely starvation. Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who oversees the prison system, has previously boasted about degrading the conditions of security prisoners. Following the ruling, Ben-Gvir criticized the court and vowed to maintain minimal conditions stipulated by law for prisoners. ACRI has called for immediate implementation of the court's ruling, asserting that a state must not starve people, regardless of their alleged crimes.
Since Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel that killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, Israel has largely rejected growing international criticism of its conduct by arguing that it was doing what was necessary to defeat Hamas. The Israeli army has detained large numbers of Palestinians in Gaza and the occupied West Bank on suspicion of militant ties. Thousands have been released from months of detention in camps and jails without charge to tell of brutal conditions, including overcrowding, scant food supplies, inadequate medical attention and scabies outbreaks.
The three-judge panel ruled unanimously that the Israeli government had a legal duty to provide Palestinian prisoners with three meals a day to ensure 'a basic level of existence' and ordered authorities to fulfill that obligation. In an unexpected 2-1 decision, the court accepted the petition filed last year by the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, or ACRI, and the Israeli rights group Gisha, siding with their allegations that the government’s deliberate restriction of prisoners’ food has caused Palestinians to suffer malnutrition and starvation during the Israel-Hamas war.
Palestinian authorities have recorded the deaths of at least 61 Palestinians in Israeli custody since the war started. In March, a 17-year-old Palestinian in Israeli prison died of what doctors said was likely starvation. Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who oversees the prison system, has previously boasted about degrading the conditions of security prisoners. Following the ruling, Ben-Gvir criticized the court and vowed to maintain minimal conditions stipulated by law for prisoners. ACRI has called for immediate implementation of the court's ruling, asserting that a state must not starve people, regardless of their alleged crimes.
