Palestinian national and Islamic factions have issued urgent calls for widespread participation in events marking Palestinian Prisoners’ Day on April 17, urging mass mobilization across the occupied West Bank, Jerusalem, the 1948-occupied territories, and around the world to stand in solidarity with thousands of Palestinian detainees facing severe abuses and the threat of execution in Israeli prisons.

The factions stressed the importance of unified action through protests, rallies, and international solidarity campaigns to highlight the prisoners’ just cause, reject Israel’s discriminatory execution legislation, and confront what they describe as a systematic campaign of violence and genocide against Palestinian detainees. They framed the day as a critical national and global platform to demand the immediate freedom of all prisoners and to intensify pressure on the occupying power. 

Hamas echoed these calls, urging Palestinians in all parts of historic Palestine and international supporters to turn out en masse for solidarity events. The movement emphasized keeping the prisoners’ issue at the forefront of global awareness, exposing the deteriorating conditions inside Israeli jails, and building momentum to overturn the recently passed execution law. 

Alarming Scale of Detention and AbuseAccording to data from Palestinian prisoner advocacy groups, including the Palestinian Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs Commission, Addameer, and the Palestinian Prisoner Society, more than 9,600 Palestinian detainees are currently held in Israeli prisons as of early April 2026. This figure includes 84 women and approximately 350 children, many of whom are imprisoned in Megiddo and Ofer prisons. 

The largest group consists of 3,532 administrative detainees, held without charge or trial under Israel’s arbitrary system of indefinite detention — the highest proportion among all categories of prisoners. An additional 1,251 detainees are classified as “unlawful combatants,” a label often applied to those from Gaza and Arab nationals from Lebanon and Syria. These numbers do not include all detainees held in Israeli military camps. 

Palestinian organizations and rights advocates warn that conditions inside Israeli prisons have worsened dramatically, with reports of escalating abuses, medical negligence, torture, and what many describe as institutionalized violence amounting to a systematic assault on Palestinian lives.
A major focus of this year’s Prisoners’ Day is strong opposition to Israel’s newly adopted Death Penalty for Terrorists Law, passed by the Knesset on March 30, 2026. Critics widely condemn the legislation as racist and discriminatory, effectively targeting Palestinians exclusively while institutionalizing state-sponsored killings under the guise of “security.” The law makes death by hanging the default sentence in military courts for certain offenses, with limited exceptions and rapid implementation timelines that undermine due process. 

International experts and human rights groups have slammed the measure as a dangerous escalation that violates international law, entrenches apartheid-like policies, and signals that Palestinian lives are deemed less worthy of protection. Palestinian factions and supporters view it as part of a broader genocidal framework aimed at crushing resistance and punishing an entire people for their struggle against occupation.

Palestinian Prisoners’ Day, observed annually on April 17, has long served as a powerful reminder of the thousands of men, women, and children held captive by Israel for their political activism and defense of their homeland. This year, amid the ongoing aggression and the threat of executions, the day is expected to see heightened participation in protests, sit-ins, and global awareness campaigns demanding the release of all political prisoners and an end to Israel’s repressive policies.

Palestinians and their supporters worldwide are answering the call with determination, reaffirming that the freedom of the prisoners is inseparable from the broader struggle for justice, liberation, and self-determination. (ILKHA)