How many Palestinian detainees from Gaza does Israel think are fighters?

Israeli subject quality believes that lone a 4th of the Palestinian detainees from Gaza held by Israel are fighters, according to a associated probe released connected Thursday by the Israeli-Palestinian mag +972, the Hebrew-language mag Local Call, and the British paper The Guardian.

Among those detained are thousands arrested nether Israel’s 2002 Unlawful Combatants legislation, which allows authorities to prehend individuals if they judge they are linked to organisations deemed ‘unlawful’, specified arsenic Hamas, adjacent if they cannot necktie the idiosyncratic to a circumstantial act.

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The associated probe revealed that 1 of those detained was an 82-year-old pistillate with Alzheimer’s who was jailed for six weeks, and a azygous parent separated from her young children, who she aboriginal recovered begging connected the streets.

Let’s instrumentality a person look:

What did the probe find?

Investigators reviewed a confidential Israeli subject database, said to beryllium regarded by commanders arsenic the astir close accusation connected Hamas oregon Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) fighters successful Gaza. The database contains the names of much than 47,000 individuals believed by Israeli quality to beryllium members of the equipped groups.

However, retired of those 47,000, lone 1,450 were listed arsenic arrested successful May, meaning that different Palestinians detained – three-quarters of the 6,000 Palestinians held by Israel astatine the clip – had not been classified arsenic Hamas oregon PIJ fighters.

The database excludes members of different equipped groups successful Gaza, who are reported by the Israeli Prison Service to marque up little than 2 percent of each “unlawful combatant” detainees.

Demonstrators, dressed successful costumes depicting skeletons, clasp props representing dormant babies, during a protestation successful solidarity with Gaza and Palestinian prisoners successful Israeli jails, successful Ramallah successful the Israeli-occupied West Bank, August 3, 2025. [Mohammed Torokman/Reuters]

What astir those successful transgression detention?

In summation to those being held arsenic “unlawful combatants”, determination are up to 300 Palestinians being held successful Israel connected charges related to the October 7 attacks.

They are classified arsenic transgression detainees arsenic Israel claims to person capable grounds to prosecute them, but has yet to bash so.

Throughout its warfare connected Gaza, Israel has been consistently accused of deliberately mislabelling civilians arsenic “terrorists”, including galore journalists.

Journalists killed successful an Israeli onslaught connected Nasser Hospital successful Khan Younis [Screengrab/Al Jazeera]

A March study by the Israeli paper Haaretz carried accounts from some Israeli defence officials and soldiers admitting that, of the 9,000 fighters Israel claimed to person killed astatine that time, astir were, successful fact, civilians.

An earlier report released successful precocious August by +972, Local Call, and The Guardian, based connected the aforesaid leaked database, showed that Israel was alert that 83 percent of those killed successful Gaza during the warfare were apt to person been civilians.

Who has Israel accused of being an unlawful combatant?

A wide cross-section of Palestinians has been accused, including young and old.

One worker who had been stationed astatine the notorious Sde Teiman detention facility successful confederate Israel was quoted successful the probe arsenic saying that 1 conception of the situation was referred to arsenic “the geriatric pen”, due to the fact that it housed lone aged oregon gravely injured detainees.

“From the Indonesian Hospital [in Beit Lahiya, Gaza] they would conscionable instrumentality masses of people,” the worker said. “They brought men successful wheelchairs, radical without legs, oregon with legs that were fundamentally useless. I retrieve 1 man, aged 75, with severely infected stumps. I ever assumed the expected excuse for arresting patients was that possibly they had seen the hostages oregon something.”

Among those prisoners was Fahamiya al-Khalidi, an 82-year-old Alzheimer’s patient, who was taken from Gaza City successful December 2023 alongside her pistillate caregiver and held arsenic an unlawful combatant for six weeks, according to situation records.

A subject medic astatine Anatot detention centre reported that she was confused, incapable to callback her age, and believed she was inactive successful Gaza aft injuring herself connected a fence.

The aforesaid medic who saw Khalidi besides said helium treated a pistillate experiencing terrible bleeding aft a miscarriage, arsenic good arsenic a breastfeeding parent who had been separated from her babe and requested a pump to forestall her beverage from drying up.

Protesters question Israeli nationalist flags successful enactment of soldiers being questioned for detainee abuse, extracurricular of the Sde Teiman subject base, Monday, July 29, 2024 [Tsafrir Abayov/AP Photo]

What are conditions similar successful Israeli prisons?

Terrible.

In February, 183 Palestinian prisoners, galore of whom had been held without charge, emerged gaunt, frail and stained successful ungraded arsenic portion of a captive speech with Israel. After their release, the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society said that grounds of torture was disposable connected the bodies of Palestinians released by Israel.

Whistleblower grounds and video grounds person documented the rape of Palestinian prisoners by Israeli guards, and astatine slightest 75 Palestinian prisoners person died successful Israeli custody since October 2023.

A United Nations study from past July said that testimonies gathered “indicate a scope of appalling acts, specified arsenic waterboarding and the merchandise of dogs connected detainees, amongst different acts, successful flagrant usurpation of planetary quality rights instrumentality and planetary humanitarian law”.

What is Israeli authorities argumentation towards Palestinian prisoners?

To marque beingness arsenic hard arsenic possible, and boast of it.

Israel’s far-right nationalist information minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, is successful complaint of the situation service. He has said that “one of the highest goals” helium has acceptable for himself since assuming the presumption was “to worsen the conditions of the terrorists successful the prisons, and to trim their rights to the minimum required by law”.

Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has boasted of what helium described arsenic the ‘abominable conditions’ Palestinians are forced to endure successful the Israeli situation strategy [Ronen Zvulun/Reuters]

“Everything published astir the abominable conditions” for Palestinians successful Israeli jails “was true”, Ben-Gvir said, bragging of however helium had reduced nutrient and ablution times and removed electrical devices.

In aboriginal August, arsenic good arsenic filming himself taunting the visibly frail Palestinian leader, Marwan Barghouti, who has remained successful situation since 2002, Ben-Gvir besides made a constituent of being filmed during a abstracted visit, pointing to a poster of a ruined Gaza, which helium claimed prisoners were forced to look astatine daily.