Palestinian rights group calls for release of 3 pregnant women held by Israel

A prisoner advocacy group called Monday for urgent intervention to secure the release of three pregnant Palestinian women held by Israel under "harsh" and "tragic" conditions at Damon Prison.

In a statement, the Palestinian Prisoner Society held the Israeli authorities fully responsible for the fate of Amina al-Taweel, Dana Jouda and Manar Ibrahim, saying they are among 93 Palestinian women held in Israeli prisons, most of them at Damon Prison in northern Israel.

"The women are being held under severe conditions and in unprecedented isolation, with the International Committee of the Red Cross still barred from visiting prisoners since the start of Israel's war on Gaza," the group said.

"Their families are also denied visits, like all Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons," it added.

Al-Taweel, 37, from Qalqilya, is four months pregnant. She is a mother of four and the wife of a former prisoner who spent a total of 19 years in Israeli prisons. Israeli forces arrested her March 18, 2026.

Jouda, 35, from Nablus, is a mother of one and five months pregnant. She has been detained since April 18, 2026, and was placed under arbitrary administrative detention for six months, the group said.

Ibrahim, 28, from Ramallah, is a mother of two and four months pregnant. She was arrested April 30, 2026, and remains detained over what Israel claims was "incitement" on social media, according to the statement.

"Legal teams' visits to women prisoners and testimonies from released detainees show that the Israeli prison system has imposed more punitive and retaliatory measures against Palestinian women prisoners in recent months," the society said.

Israel has arrested more than 765 Palestinian women since the start of the Israeli war on Gaza in October 2023, including girls, elderly women, students, lawyers, journalists, activists, teachers, housewives, doctors, wives and relatives of prisoners, the group said.

According to Palestinian and Israeli rights groups, around 9,500 Palestinians remain in Israeli prisons, where detainees face torture, starvation and medical neglect that have led to the deaths of dozens of prisoners.

Israel's war in Gaza since October 2023 has killed more than 73,000 Palestinians and injured over 173,000, most of them women and children, according to Palestinian figures.

Despite a ceasefire that took effect last October, the Israeli army has since killed 1,021 Palestinians and injured 3,249 in near-daily attacks, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.