The latest round of exchanges in the prisoner swap agreed between Israel and Hamas is under way.
On Thursday, Hamas handed over the bodies of four Israeli captives, including two young children, killed in Gaza during the war.
In return, Israel is reportedly expected to release all women and minors it has detained since 7 October 2023 who were not involved in the Hamas-led surprise attack that day.
Israelis held in Gaza are mostly referred to as “hostages” and “captives”, while Palestinians jailed by Israel are referred to as “prisoners” and “detainees”.
Several of those Palestinian prisoners have been handed lengthy, often decades-long sentences, including for murder.
But a large number of those being released as part of the ceasefire agreement were detained after 7 October, and had no involvement in the attack. These detainees are from both Gaza and the occupied West Bank.
Why are there so many Palestinians, including women and children, who are not combatants, ready to be handed over during the truce?
Did Israel round them up deliberately 16 months ago as bargaining chips – akin to captives – to be used in a future prisoner exchange?
Middle East Eye takes a look.
Did Israel increase arrests on 7 October?
As of this month, there were 9,846 “security” inmates in Israeli jails, according to HaMoked, a human rights group which assists Palestinians living under occupation.
Of those, 3,369 were being held in administrative detention, in which a person is detained without charges or a trial.
In addition to the nearly 10,000 detainees, a further 1,802 Palestinains, all of whom are from Gaza, are being held under the “unlawful combatants law”.
All of these numbers are significantly more than before 7 October 2023.
Before the Hamas-led attack, there were around 5,250 prisoners, of whom 1,320 were administrative detainees. Only a few dozen people were being held from Gaza under the unlawful combatants law.
“The total number of prisoners and detainees has doubled,” Milena Ansari, Israel-Palestine researcher at Human Rights Watch, told MEE. “And for administrative detentions… that has tripled.”
The clear spike in arrests applies to minors too, Miranda Cleland of the Defense for Children Palestine (DCIP) told MEE.
The total number of children aged between 12 and 17 held in Israeli prisons was 300 as of December 2024, according to the most recent figures published by the Israeli prison service. That’s twice as many as were being detained in September 2023.
Of those being held most recently, 112 were in administrative detention.
“Thirty-seven percent of Palestinian children detained by the Israeli military now are in administrative detention, up from 14 percent of the total in September 2023,” said Cleland.
“Not only are Israeli forces detaining more children without charge, but they are detaining more children overall.”
What were these detainees charged with?
For many of the detainees, there were no charges against them.
Administrative detention allows Israel’s military to hold prisoners indefinitely, citing alleged secret information, without charging them or allowing them to stand trial.
While the period of detention lasts six months, it can be renewed indefinitely.
Access to a lawyer varies from case to case, however. As these detainees don’t know what the charges against them are, lawyers are unable to change their clients’ plights.
“The essence of administrative detention defeats the purpose of representation because the lawyers do not have any information about why a person is detained,” said Ansari.
As for Palestinian detainees from Gaza held under the unlawful combatants law, the majority of them don’t have charges against them either.
HaMoked describes the category of “unlawful combatant” as having no basis in international law.
Released Palestinians from Gaza have spoken of how they were interrogated about whether they supported Hamas, where they lived and other details about their lives – but not presented with a single charge.
Two months after the war began, Israel passed a number of amendments loosening its use of the unlawful combatants law.
They increased the time the military could detain someone without an order from 96 hours to 45 days, the length a detainee could be held before a judge reviewed their detention from 14 to 75 days, and the period someone could be detained without seeing a lawyer from 21 days to six months (later reduced to three months).
For those Palestinians who were charged, it was often vague.
“Since 7 October, the common charges against women and children would be the ‘incitement of violence’ charge,” Jenna Abu Hasna, of Addameer, which supports Palestinian political prisoners.
“A simple post or sharing of a post on social media can get any Palestinian targeted and detained.”
Were the detentions illegal?
Israel has repeatedly said that its arrests of Palestinians, including those under administrative detention, is compliant with international norms.
Administrative detention is legal under international law as a preventative measure when a person specifically poses a danger.
However, authorities are required to give that detainee a fair hearing and allow them to challenge their detention – something Israel does not appear to be doing.
“Israeli authorities’ use of administrative detention has far exceeded what international law allows,” said Ansari. “There isn’t a certain period when a person is released or when charges will be presented against them. So this makes the administrative detention arbitrary.”
Israel’s detainment of children has come under legal questions, too.
“Israel is the only country in the world that systematically detains, tortures, and prosecutes children in military courts,” said Cleland.
She said that such a practice was arbitrary and amounted to an international law breach under the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), which Israel has ratified.
“The CRC outlines that children should only be deprived of their liberty as an absolute last resort, which is clearly not the case here as Israeli forces continue to arrest Palestinian children by the dozen.”
Children are arrested in the middle of the night, isolated in solitary confinement to extract confessions, and never presented with charges, Cleland said.
“Every aspect of this system… is a tool to exert Israeli control over Palestinian children and their families, and is unacceptable in international law.”
How have women and children been treated in prison?
Very badly, according to the testimonies of those who have been released so far.
Women have reported abuse in prison, including being subjected to regular strip searches, the confiscation of hijabs and medical neglect.
Ansari added that many released women have reported that they were threatened with sexual violence by prison guards, and subjected to “verbal abuse and humiliation”.
Children have also recounted receiving grim treatment.
“The children we have been able to interview, after they have been released, have reported deplorable conditions in the prisons,” said Cleland.
“Regular beatings and crackdowns from Israeli prison guards, rotten food, lack of access to the toilet and shower, and cells crowded with twice as many children as the space is designed for, so children are forced to sleep on the floor.”
Are they bargaining chips?
The change in the unlawful combatants law, and the huge spike in arrests indicate a concerted effort to arrest Palestinians, including children and women, after 7 October.
“Based on what the released detainees were reporting to us, many times during their detention, Israeli prison guards would literally tell them: we are detaining you because of actions Palestinians did on 7 October,” said Ansari.
The widespread use of the unlawful combatants law to detain Palestinians who are now being released, in Israeli authorities’ own words, as people “not involved in the events of 7 October 2023” is another tell-tale sign.
“One atrocity by one side does not justify atrocity by the other side,” said Ansari. “Human beings are not bargaining chips.”
“Israeli forces cannot round up as many Palestinians as possible in order to tip the balance for the exchange deal between prisoners and detainees and hostages. This is not what human rights is.”
Middle East Eye has asked the Israeli Prison Service for comment.
