Israel isolating Palestinian journalist for 46 days and counting

Israeli prison authorities have continued to hold Palestinian journalist and administrative detainee Bushra al-Tawil in isolation for 46 straight days, Palestinian prisoners’ organizations said Wednesday.

The Palestinian Prisoner Society, Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association, and the Palestine Liberation Organization’s Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs said in a statement that Tawil, 33, was transferred to Ohalei Oz isolation facility in Beersheba in southern Israel.

She was moved there from Neve Tirza prison in central Israel after being held in isolation at Damon prison in Haifa in northern Israel, according to the statement.

The groups said the repeated transfers and continued isolation have prevented her legal team from visiting her, despite several requests submitted by lawyers from the Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs.

A lawyer was informed Wednesday that Tawil had again been transferred to Ohalei Oz, preventing the scheduled visit, the statement said.

The organizations urged international organizations operating in the occupied Palestinian territories, particularly the International Committee of the Red Cross, to urgently intervene to end her isolation and secure her release.

The groups said Tawil’s case highlights “the growing policy of isolating Palestinian prisoners, including women,” noting that the practice has become “systematic” in recent months, leaving detainees unable to know the allegations against them or challenge them, while also causing psychological harm.

The UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, known as the Nelson Mandela Rules, prohibit prolonged or indefinite solitary confinement.

It defines solitary confinement as holding a prisoner for 22 hours or more a day without meaningful human contact, and prolonged solitary confinement as lasting more than 15 consecutive days.

The Palestinian groups said Tawil’s 46 days in isolation exceed that threshold and violate international standards.

Tawil has been held in administrative detention without charge since February, according to the statement.

The groups described her as one of the most prominent Palestinian female detainees to face administrative detention in recent years.

She is the daughter of Jamal al-Tawil, a Palestinian administrative detainee who spent years in Israeli prisons, according to the statement.

The organizations demanded Tawil’s immediate release and an end to her isolation.

Israeli forces carry out frequent raids and arrests in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, amid increased occupier attacks against Palestinians.

About 9,500 Palestinians are held in Israeli prisons, including around 90 women and more than 350 children, who face food deprivation, torture and medical neglect, according to Palestinian and Israeli rights groups.