Since the outbreak of the Gaza war on October 7, 2023, Israel has carried out mass arrests and detentions of Palestinians. Thousands have been arrested in the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories and in Israel, based on alleged militant activity, offensive social media postings, or arbitrarily.
News outlets and human rights organizations both within and outside of Israel reported that thousands of Gazan workers in Israel were detained in the weeks following October 7. Additionally, Israel has detained or enforced disappearance of residents of the Gaza Strip, arrested Palestinians in the West Bank and Arab citizens of Israel, and detained fighters captured inside Israel. Concerns have been raised regarding the legality, secrecy, and conditions of many detentions, including allegations of widespread mistreatment, torture, and sexual assault.
On 3 November 2023, Israel deported 3,200 Gazan Palestinian workers who were detained in Israel following the October 7 attacks to the Gaza Strip. In addition to Palestinian prisoners in custody prior to the outbreak of the war, an unknown number of individuals remain in detention. Those arrested or detained include journalists, politicians and political activists, artists, medics and physicians, temporary workers, and other civilians, including women and children. As of April, 2025, nearly 10,000 prisoners were held in Israeli custody. Prisoners' organizations in Palestine report that approximately 18,000 Palestinians were arrested in the West Bank between October 7, 2023 and August, 2025.
Images of a mass arrest by Israeli soldiers in Gaza circulated widely during the war, showing men and boys with no known organizational affiliations stripped to their underwear, tied up, and blindfolded. After the images began to circulate, Israeli authorities and media described the scene as the surrender of 150 suspected Hamas militants in Khan Younis. Analysts questioned the authenticity of the purported surrender, suggesting that it may have been staged by Israeli forces. Security officials later acknowledged that the scene was not a mass surrender of Hamas militants. Human rights groups have expressed concern about the images and the detentions.
Background
Incarceration of Palestinians by Israel
Since 1967, one million Palestinians have been arrested by Israel. In July 2023, the United Nations Human Rights Office reported that 5,000 Palestinians (including 160 minors) were incarcerated in Israeli jails and prisons. Some have been convicted of crimes by Israeli authorities; the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories describes many convictions as resulting from "a litany of violations of international law, including due process violations, that taint the legitimacy of the administration of justice by the occupying power." As of August 2023, 1,200 Palestinians were held without any charges or trial, in a practice referred to as "administrative detention"; Israel justifies the practice on the basis of security. The administrative detention of at least 105 Palestinians was based on an Israeli law known as the "unlawful combatants law", which excludes the detained from prisoner of war status under article four of the Third Geneva Convention.
Outbreak of war on October 7
Hamas, which has governed the Gaza Strip since 2007, has been engaged in a prolonged conflict with Israel. On October 7, 2023, a significant surprise attack by Hamas on southern Israel marked a major escalation in the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The IDF estimated that approximately 3,000 Hamas-led militants entered Israel during the invasion. The invasion was characterized by its scale and intensity, as the militants allegedly targeted both military bases and Israeli civilians, resulting in the deaths of an estimated 1,200 people in Israel (according to Israel, mostly non-combatants) and the capture of over 200 military captives and civilian hostages of varying ages.
According to Israeli sources, more than 600 militants who participated in the attack were detained in Israel.
Revocation of work permits
Prior to the outbreak of the war, approximately 19,000 Gazan men over the age of 25 were permitted to work in Israel, predominantly in the agricultural and construction sectors. The measure was intended to provide economic opportunities, with the aim of alleviating widespread poverty in the Gaza Strip.
On October 10, the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), a department of Israel's government responsible for administering the work permit program, revoked all work permits previously issued to Gaza residents and stated that "they will not be reinstated". The Israeli government's press office said: "There will be no more Palestinian workers from Gaza. Those workers from Gaza who were in Israel on the day of the outbreak of the war will be returned to Gaza." The suspension of work permits stripped these individuals of their legal status, rendering them "illegal aliens" under Israeli law.
Mass arrests, disappearances, and detentions
Israel has arrested over three thousand Palestinians from the West Bank since October 7 2023, and widely imposed administrative detention orders on them, according to local rights groups. According to the Palestinian Commission for Detainees and Ex-Prisoners' Affairs, the number of Palestinians in Israeli prisons had doubled from 5,200 prisoners before October 7 to more than 10,000 prisoners and detainees as of October 24. As of November 23, the Commission placed the number at 8,300, including 3,000 individuals held in administrative detention. While the IDF stated on December 4 that 2,150 Palestinians had been arrested in the West Bank since the outbreak of the war, it reported 3,450 arrests in the West Bank as of December 6. According to HaMoked, an Israeli NGO, 2,873 Palestinians were held in administrative detention as of December 6, an all-time high.
On December 10, The Washington Post stated a pattern had emerged in which men and boys were detained by the Israeli military and then never heard from again. On December 16, the OHCHR stated it had received "numerous disturbing reports from the north of Gaza of mass detentions, ill-treatment and enforced disappearances of possibly thousands of Palestinians," including children. By 16 January 2024, the Palestinian Prisoners Society reported there were a total of 8,800 Palestinians in Israeli prisons.
In July of 2024, there were 21,000 prisoners in Israeli jails, outreaching the maximum capacity of the system by some 6,500. The figure did not include about 2,500 Gazans, who were mostly held in military detention facilities. Shin Bet director Ronen Bar warned that the facilities had become a "ticking time bomb": "The physical and mental living conditions may lead to acts of violence inside the jails and prisons, and some inmates are already planning acts of violence and revenge," Bar said in a letter to Netanyahu.
Palestinian workers from Gaza
On October 23, The Independent reported that "Palestinians with permission to work in Israel were rounded up, arrested and blindfolded before being taken to military camps" following the outbreak of hostilities. According to Dr. Nasri Abu Jaish, Minister of Labour for the Palestinian Authority, 4,500 workers were unaccounted for, but believed to have been detained by Israeli forces, as of that date; the International Labour Organization estimated the number of missing workers at between 4,000 and 5,000. Jacobin and Muhammad Aruri, head of legal affairs for the General Union of Palestinian Workers, placed the number of detainees among this group at 4,000.
COGAT confirmed the detention of an unspecified number of Gazans, but declined to comment on the reasons for the arrests or conditions of detention. Amnesty International confirmed that thousands of Gazan workers were detained incommunicado for at least three weeks at two military detention centres in Israel. While several thousand were released, Amnesty stated that "there is no transparency from Israeli authorities" regarding the number of Gazans still in detention. By May 2024, 1,000 workers were reported as still missing.
Palestinians within Gaza
Time reported on November 20, 2023 that the total number of Gazans who have been detained by Israeli forces in recent weeks remained unclear. Haaretz reported on January 3, 2024 that 661 Gazan Palestinians were detained in Israeli jails, representing a 150% increase from the previous month; this number does not include Gazans detained at military facilities.
On November 19, 200 Palestinian men from Gaza were detained by Israel Defense Forces while attempting to evacuate with their families in a southerly direction within the Gaza Strip. The detentions came to light due to the detention of Mosab Abu Toha among the men. The Israeli military detained the men at a checkpoint as they attempted to leave the north of Gaza for the south.
According to the head of the Palestinian Prisoners' Association, 153 women have been arrested in Gaza since the outbreak of the war, including pregnant women and women detained with their babies. The Ministry of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs stated women from Gaza had been subjected to torture and abuse. On December 25, footage emerged showing hundreds of detained men and boys stripped to their underwear and held in a stadium.
On 1 February 2024, Haaretz reported that Israel had detained an 82-year-old grandmother with Alzheimers for two months as an "unlawful combatant" and only released her after an appeal. On 6 February, dozens were arrested in Gaza City, including children. On 9 February, the Council on American-Islamic Relations demanded the release of two U.S. citizen brothers detained in Gaza, leading National Security Council spokesman John Kirby to state the US would speak to Israel.
Healthcare workers
On 15 November 2023, reports emerged alleging detentions by Israeli forces at Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza. Doctors who spoke to Al Jazeera Arabic, one of the few international outlets able to access sources within the hospital, stated that the detainees were blindfolded and stripped naked. Mondoweiss cited Al Jazeera reports that "Israeli forces took captive dozens of displaced people, relatives of patients and the injured", and that the detainees were transferred to undisclosed locations. China Daily, a Chinese state-run media outlet, reported on similar statements by the hospital's director, Mohammed Abu Salmiya, who referred to "dozens" of detentions at the hospital. On 23 November, Abu Salmiya was himself arrested by Israeli forces, along with other medics. As of 4 December 2023, the fate of Abu Salmiya remained unknown; Israeli authorities declined to answer questions by The Jerusalem Post, but "hinted" that he remained in Shin Bet custody. He had not been charged with an offence.
On 30 November 2023, the Palestine Red Crescent Society stated that the whereabouts of the head of Khan Younis Emergency Medical Center had been unknown for nine days, following his arrest by Israeli authorities. On December 3, the Gaza Health Ministry stated that 34 medics in Gaza had been detained by Israel. On 12 December 2023, the World Health Organization reported on the mass detentions of medical staff. Adnan al-Bursh, the head of orthopedics at al-Shifa was arrested with two nurses. On December 13, the British-organization Medical Aid for Palestinians stated 70 medics at the Kamal Adwan Hospital had been detained by the IDF. On December 19, the Gaza Health Ministry stated that Israel was holding 93 healthcare workers "in inhumane conditions, under interrogation [and] under torture, starvation and extreme cold." On 28 January 2024, the head of head of orthopedic surgery at Nasser Hospital was arrested.
One paramedic arrested in Jabalia stated he and his colleagues were beaten in their sensitive areas, heads, and backs, and had rocks thrown at them. A group of ten healthcare workers described being tortured in detention. A doctor arrested while working at Ahli Arab Hospital in December 2023 described being shackled and blindfolded. On 5 February 2024, the general manager and administrative director of al-Amal Hospital were arrested. On 6 February, two medical volunteers were arrested while evacuating from the al-Amal Hospital. Several medical workers were arrested at al-Amal on 9 February. Eight more al-Amal hospital were arrested on 10 February. On 19 February, the Red Crescent stated that twelve of its medics were continuing to be detained two weeks after Israel's raid on Al-Amal Hospital. Citing the Health Ministry, UNOCHA reported on 20 February that 70 medical personnel had been arrested following the Nasser Hospital siege.
On 3 March 2024, the Palestinian Red Crescent stated 14 of its staff members were detained, with their status or whereabouts unknown. One staff member was released on 17 March after spending 36 days in detention. Seven more staff were released on 28 March after being held for 47 days. In September 2024, a Palestinian Medical Relief Society paramedic stated that during his arrest, he was stripped naked, zip-tied, blindfolded, and that Israeli soldiers put an assault rifle against his head, doused him in gasoline, and threatened to set him on fire.
On 3 May 2024, it was announced that Dr. Adnan Al-Bursh had died on 19 April 2024 while in Israeli captivity. Further details on his cause of death have not yet been given, but dozens of fellow detainees attest to the systematic torture of the doctor, and say it led to his death. In October 2024, staff at the Kamal Adwan Hospital stated that more than 30 medical personnel had been detained by the Israeli army during a raid, including the hospital's head of nursing, an employee of the American medical organization MedGlobal.