Israeli rights groups report 22 prisoners shot by guards

Documented shootings in Israeli facilities

Physicians for Human Rights–Israel and the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel said in a joint report released Thursday that they had collected testimonies from 21 Palestinian prisoners and one Jewish detainee who reported being shot with projectiles described as rubber, plastic or sponge bullets while held in facilities including Ofer, Ketziot and Gilboa prisons. The accounts detailed incidents in which guards fired at prisoners from close range inside cells where detainees had no room to seek shelter.

Severe injuries and medical neglect

The report detailed a case in which a 45-year-old Palestinian prisoner was transferred to Soroka Medical Center in June after being shot with rubber bullets that ruptured his right testicle, requiring surgical removal. Medical records confirmed another prisoner sustained a fractured left leg requiring stabilization surgery after being shot at close range, with the organizations documenting additional injuries to the abdomen, pelvis and hands.

Prisoners reported being shot during raids by guards or inside prison wings and cells, with some stating they were denied medical examinations after being injured. One detainee at Ofer Prison said guards shot him and used an electric stun device on his head after he refused to return to his cell in protest over months of denied treatment for scabies.

Prison Service defends tactics

The organizations contacted the Israeli government's legal adviser and Prison Service officials to demand an end to the "uncontrolled use of gunfire against prisoners" and disclosure of weapons protocols. The Israel Prison Service acknowledged using "less-lethal means" but rejected calls for a comprehensive halt to their deployment.

Muhannad Abu Ghosh, who heads the prisoners department at Physicians for Human Rights–Israel, said the practice was not new but noted the recent period had witnessed an "unprecedented escalation" in its use. Attorney Merav Ben Ze'ev of the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel said the committee was considering legal action, stating the practice "endangered prisoners' lives and constituted another means of torture."

Around 9,350 Palestinians are currently held in Israeli prisons, including 350 children and 90 women, according to rights groups that have documented widespread torture, starvation and medical neglect contributing to dozens of deaths in custody.