Campaign to 'free Palestinian hostages' in Israeli jails gains momentum

Thousands of demonstrators filled central London on Saturday as part of the “Free Palestinian Hostages” campaign, demanding the release of more than 9,100 Palestinians held in notorious Israeli prisons, including over 450 women and children.

Waving Palestinian flags and wearing red ribbons to signify detention without charge, protesters denounced Israel’s routine use of torture, arbitrary arrest and inhumane treatment.

Protesters accused Israel of running a system rooted in apartheid and genocide, and calling for an immediate end to mass incarceration.

The crowd also directed anger at the British government, criticising it for prosecuting activists who oppose arms exports to Israel while continuing to fund and politically shield Israeli actions in Gaza and the occupied Palestinian territories.

The campaign has spread across Europe. Paris and Athens saw a massive show of support for Palestine on Saturday as tens of thousands of people filled the streets to mark the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People.

On Friday, protesters gathered outside the Israeli embassy in Copenhagen, Denmark under the slogan “Bring Them Home”, highlighting the names and stories of Palestinians held without trial.

One of the faces of the campaign to free the Palestinian captives is Marwan Barghouti. The 66-year-old, seen a future leader of a Palestinian state, has been held by Israel since 2002, serving five life sentences for his alleged role in killings during the Second Intifada. 

He has faced long periods of solitary confinement, including one lasting three years.

Like many Palestinian captives, Barghouti’s prison conditions have worsened since the start of Israels war on Gaza on 7 October 2023.

His access to family and legal visits has also been further restricted, with senior Palestinian figures accusing Israeli authorities of subjecting Barghouti to “isolation, torture and attempts to coerce, humiliate and beat him, putting his life in danger".  

State torture of prisoners

Recent investigations revealed that Israel is detaining dozens of Palestinians from Gaza in an underground facility where prisoners reportedly never see daylight, receive insufficient food and remain cut off entirely from the outside world.

Among those held are at least two civilians imprisoned for months without charge: a nurse detained while still in his medical uniform and a teenage street food seller. Lawyers representing the men from the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel (PCATI) confirmed their prolonged detention.

Leaked Israeli data indicated that the vast majority of Palestinians arrested during the ongoing assault on Gaza were civilians.

A report by the NGO Physicians for Human Rights-Israel (PHRI) has documented the deaths of at least 94 Palestinian detainees in Israeli custody. The organisation warned the true figure is likely far higher. According to its findings, victims died as a result of torture, assault, deliberate medical neglect or severe malnutrition.

One such victim was seventeen-year-old Walid Ahmad. Held without charge in Israel’s notorious Megiddo prison, he died six months after his arrest. A post-mortem examination found signs of “severe and prolonged malnutrition”.

A recent United Nations report found Israel of maintaining a “de facto” policy of torture against Palestinian prisoners.

“The committee was deeply concerned about reports indicating a de facto state policy of organised and widespread torture and ill-treatment during the reporting period, which had gravely intensified since 7 October 2023,” the report said.

“It also expressed its concern that a range of policies adopted by Israel in the course of its continued unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, if implemented in the manner alleged, would amount to cruel, inhuman or degrading living conditions for the Palestinian population.”