Depriving prisoners of drinking water is 'collective punishment'

The report reveals a new Israeli policy of depriving Gaza prisoners of drinking water as collective punishment in military detention centers, based on official reports from the Israeli Military Prosecution submitted to the Association for Civil Rights, which described the deprivation as collective punishment during the war.

An investigative report reveals a new Israeli policy of depriving Gaza prisoners of drinking water as collective punishment in military detention centers under the control of occupation forces and the Israel Prison Service. The report was based on 6 official reports prepared by the Israeli Military Prosecution, submitted to the Association for Civil Rights after a legal petition, after the state had previously refused to hand them over on grounds of protecting state security. The reports were based on 3 field visits to Ketziot Prison in the Negev during May, June, and September 2024. One report indicated that the results of the first and second visits showed the imposition of a policy limiting access to water in some sections, preventing the continuous provision of drinking water during part of the day. The report quoted prisoner testimonies that water denial was implemented occasionally as part of collective punishment, and in other places as a fixed measure for about half the day. The occupation prison administration denied these testimonies, asserting that the system operates according to the law and that prisoners have regular access to water. This information comes within the framework of a broad tightening of detention conditions since October 7, 2023, where previous reports documented cases of severe hunger, extreme weight loss, and severe overcrowding, with 90% of prisoners held in spaces of less than 3 square meters. In September 2025, the occupation's High Court ruled there were indications of a breach of the duty to provide basic living conditions, but subsequent reports revealed that nothing had changed. Human rights organizations recorded nearly 7,000 arrests during 2025, and the deaths of 32 prisoners, bringing the total number of martyrs among the prisoner movement since the start of the war to 100 prisoners.