A highly publicized case of a Palestinian prisoner giving birth inside an Israeli detention facility has reignited long-simmering international and regional scrutiny over the systemic mistreatment of pregnant Palestinian detainees in Israeli custody, shining a harsh light on gaps in medical access, nutrition, and basic human rights protections behind bars.
Thirty-five-year-old Dana Joudeh, who was held under Israel’s controversial administrative detention policy – a practice that allows indefinite detention without formal charge or trial – welcomed her baby daughter on September 14. Joudeh had been taken into custody from her home in Iraq al-Tayeh, a village near the West Bank city of Nablus, on March 1, when she was already three months pregnant. Just one day after the birth, both Joudeh and her newborn were released and transferred to a medical facility in Ramallah for urgent care. As of initial reports, Joudeh’s full health status remains undisclosed, with her family declining to address media inquiries.
The Palestinian Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs has placed full responsibility for any harm to Joudeh and her infant on Israeli authorities. The organization confirmed that Joudeh was denied consistent, adequate medical care throughout her entire pregnancy, and condemned the forced delivery in a prison setting as a fundamental violation of human rights. In an official statement released Monday, the commission argued that detaining a pregnant woman and denying her routine prenatal care amounts to a deliberate crime that contravenes established international law and humanitarian conventions, adding that forcing childbirth within a prison system constitutes a second, separate violation.
Joudeh’s experience has amplified urgent fears for two other pregnant Palestinian detainees still held in Israeli custody: 28-year-old Manar Karaja from Ramallah, who is six months pregnant, and Baraa Abu Khadija from Tulkarm, who is four months along.
Banan Abu al-Haija, a former Palestinian detainee who spent 14 months in administrative detention alongside the three pregnant women, shared firsthand accounts of the dangerous conditions they endured. Abu al-Haija, who shared a cell designated for pregnant detainees with Joudeh, Karaja, and another detainee who has since been released, told reporters that Joudeh faced persistent health complications throughout her detention. Before her arrest, Joudeh had undergone gastric bypass surgery that required consistent access to specialized vitamins and nutritional supplements – all of which prison officials refused to provide, according to Abu al-Haija.
“The cell where Dana, Manar, and the other detained woman were held was cramped, overheated, and unsuitable for expecting mothers,” Abu al-Haija explained in her interview with Middle East Eye. “They had no access to enough nutritious food to support their own health and the development of their fetuses. They were denied any regular medical treatment, not even basic over-the-counter pain medication.” She added that trips to the on-site prison clinic were extremely infrequent, with gaps of more than a month between scheduled appointments, and inadequate, unsanitary hygiene facilities compounded their daily suffering.
Abu al-Haija also recalled a violent incident involving another former cellmate: after Israeli forces fired stun grenades directly at the cell door, the detainee experienced repeated bleeding, yet prison officials dismissed her pleas for care out of hand. “All of these women live under constant, severe psychological stress,” Abu al-Haija said. “They worry nonstop about their families on the outside, their own uncertain legal status, and their children. Every day is spent just waiting and longing for release.”
For the families of the two remaining pregnant detainees, the fear that their loved ones will face the same traumatic experience of giving birth in prison has grown exponentially in the wake of Joudeh’s case. Musab Zalloum, Karaja’s husband, told reporters that his family’s anxiety has spiked since news of Joudeh’s delivery broke. They now fear Karaja will remain in detention through her delivery and possibly beyond.
Karaja’s last meeting with her legal counsel took place on August 29, and during that meeting, she outlined alarming conditions in her cell. She reported developing scabies, a contagious parasitic skin infection, caused by poor hygiene and a lack of basic sanitary supplies. She also confirmed consistent shortages of nutritious food and inadequate prenatal care. A mother of two young children – five-year-old Ayman and four-year-old Laila – Karaja told her lawyer that the only medical checks provided at the prison clinic are basic screenings for blood pressure and diabetes. Because of insufficient food rations, her weight has dropped throughout her pregnancy rather than increasing as medically recommended.
“After we found out Dana gave birth in prison, our fears went from bad to overwhelming,” Zalloum told Middle East Eye. “We are terrified that Manar will have to go through that same traumatic experience, and we worry constantly about both her health and our unborn baby’s.” Zalloum, who was able to be by his wife’s side for both of her previous pregnancies and deliveries, is currently barred from any in-person visits and can only receive sporadic updates on her condition through her legal team. “Our two children miss her more than words can say. They just started kindergarten a few days ago, and she wasn’t there to be with them,” Zalloum said. “Everything is harder without her. We are all just waiting desperately for her to come home.” Karaja remains in detention as of this report, with her next court hearing scheduled for October 4.
Joudeh’s case is far from an isolated incident: Palestinian prisoner advocacy groups have documented widespread, systemic abuse of female Palestinian detainees in Israeli prisons for decades, including repeated cases of forced childbirth behind bars and forced separation of newborns from incarcerated mothers.
In a statement released just five days before Joudeh gave birth, the Palestinian Prisoners’ Society (PPS) warned that conditions for all female Palestinian detainees have deteriorated to an all-time high level of severity. The group reported that Israeli prison authorities have carried out dozens of violent raids on women’s cell blocks since the start of 2024, including physical assaults, public humiliation, extended solitary confinement, and collective punishment of all detainees for individual actions. During raids, PPS reported, women are routinely handcuffed with their arms bound behind their backs, blindfolded, and forced into prison courtyards for extended periods, while their personal belongings – including essential hygiene and medical items – are confiscated and destroyed. The PPS added that Israeli forces have increasingly used tear gas inside cell blocks and have placed more women in prolonged solitary confinement, a practice that causes severe long-term psychological harm.
“The damage from these abusive practices is not limited to the immediate physical pain they cause,” the PPS statement read. “It turns daily life for these women into a constant cycle of fear, anxiety, and humiliation that never ends.” The organization highlighted the case of Shaimaa Khazem from Jenin, another Palestinian woman held under administrative detention whose health has deteriorated in recent months.
As of the beginning of September, prisoner advocacy groups estimate that 90 Palestinian women are currently held in Israeli detention facilities, part of a total population of more than 9,350 Palestinian prisoners overall.
