⭕ Palestinian Prisoner’s Society: Rubber-coated Bullets Fired at Political Prisoners: A Dangerous Escalation in the System of Torture Inside Israeli Occupation Prisons

⭕ Dozens of cases recently documented, including severe and critical injuries

July 20, 2026

Ramallah, occupied Palestine – The Palestinian Prisoner’s Society said in statement on Monday that, over the past few months, the Israeli occupation’s prison service has turned the use of rubber-coated bullets against Palestinian political prisoners into a systematic punitive policy that is carried out repeatedly and in an organized manner. Dozens of prisoners have been shot with rubber-coated bullets in cases that human rights institutions have been able to document. However, the actual number is believed to be much higher due to ongoing severe restrictions on prison visits and the isolation imposed by the Israeli occupation authorities, which has hindered access to many prisoners and prevented the documentation of the abuses they have experienced.

The attacks have caused severe bleeding in the limbs and in sensitive areas of dozens of prisoners’ bodies, requiring some to undergo surgery. One prisoner said doctors informed him he might require the amputation of one of his limbs because of the seriousness of his injury and its complications. Most of the injured prisoners continue to require urgent specialized medical care but are being deliberately denied treatment- a systematic policy of slow killing inside Israeli occupation prisons.

The PPS added that prison authorities have recently expanded their use of force and repression against prisoners, introducing new weapons and methods during raids and assaults. It said prisoners' bodies have effectively become a testing ground for tools of repression and violence, particularly since the start of the genocide. The prison system, through Israeli media outlets, has publicized the introduction of some of these measures as a display of increasingly harsh and violent treatment of prisoners.

The PPS further stated that the level of violence and brutality within the Israeli occupation’s prison system has reached an unprecedented level. The crimes committed against prisoners now exceed the traditional understanding of human rights violations, with prisons becoming an integrated system designed to produce torture through multiple forms of physical and psychological abuse, humiliation, starvation, denial of medical care, solitary confinement, and organized assaults. These practices aim to break prisoners physically and psychologically and form part of the broader abuses committed against the Palestinian people.

The PPS also emphasized that the effects of rubber-coated bullet injuries extend beyond serious physical harm to include profound and long-lasting psychological consequences. Many prisoners suffer from psychological disorders resulting from repeated exposure to violent raids, assaults, and intimidation within a detention environment characterized by continuous torture and the absence of minimum legal and humanitarian protections.

Finally, the PPS renewed its call on the international human rights community, particularly the United Nations, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and relevant international mechanisms, to take urgent action to stop these escalating crimes against Palestinian political prisoners and to hold Israeli occupation leaders accountable. These actions constitute serious violations of international humanitarian law, the Geneva Conventions, and the Convention Against Torture, and amount, in their broader context, to war crimes and crimes against humanity requiring investigation and accountability.