‘Basic conditions of survival’: Israeli Supreme Court rules govt failing to provide Palestinian prisoners enough food

The ruling came in response to a petition filed by the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) and the Israeli rights group Gisha. The organisations argued that a food policy change enacted after the war began in Gaza had left Palestinian inmates malnourished and in some cases starving.

Thousands of Palestinians have been detained in Gaza and the occupied West Bank since the war started nearly two years ago, many held without charge. Detainees and rights groups have described harsh prison conditions, including overcrowding, insufficient food, lack of medical care, and disease outbreaks.

Minister lashes out at ruling

ACRI welcomed the verdict and urged Israeli authorities to act without delay. In a statement on X, the rights group accused Israel’s prison service of having “turned Israeli prisons into torture camps”.

“A state must not starve people,” ACRI wrote. “People must not starve people — no matter what they have done.”

On the other hand, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who oversees Israel’s prison system, sharply criticised the decision. He argued that while Israeli hostages in Gaza have no one to help them, the court was siding with Hamas “to our disgrace”.

Ben-Gvir, who heads a far-right ultranationalist party, has previously boasted that he reduced the conditions of Palestinian prisoners to what he called the bare minimum allowed by Israeli law. Following Sunday’s ruling, he vowed the policy would continue unchanged.

(With inputs from AP)