TEL AVIV: In a rare legal move during Israel’s ongoing war in Gaza, the Israeli Supreme Court has ruled that the country’s security authorities have failed to provide Palestinian detainees with even the minimum standard of nutrition.
The court ordered the government to immediately improve food quality and quantity for incarcerated Palestinians, AP reported.
The ruling comes as international concern grows over the treatment of Palestinians detained amid Israel's ongoing 23-month-long war on Gaza and its illegal activities in the occupied West Bank.
Over 64,000 Palestinians killed in war
Since the beginning of the war, more than 64,000 Palestinians have been killed and nearly 163,000 wounded, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza. Thousands more are believed to remain buried under rubble, while famine continues to tighten its grip across the besieged enclave.
The ministry reported on September 7 that in just 24 hours, five people, including three children, died from starvation. This brings the total number of malnutrition-related deaths to 387, including 138 children, since October.
Following the formal declaration of famine in northern Gaza by the global hunger monitor IPC on August 22, at least 109 hunger-related deaths have occurred, including 23 children.
Israeli detention centers following 'systemic policy' of food deprivation
The Supreme Court decision follows a petition filed by two Israeli human rights organizations, which described the conditions inside Israeli detention centers as the result of a “systemic policy” that deprives Palestinian inmates of adequate food.
Reports from released detainees allege overcrowding, poor sanitation, limited medical care, and widespread disease outbreaks such as scabies.
Global bodies accuse Israel of genocide
While the Israeli judiciary typically refrains from challenging wartime decisions of the government, this rare intervention comes amid mounting global scrutiny of Israel’s policies, including criticism by UN experts and global rights organizations who have accused Israel of committing atrocities in Gaza that may amount to genocide.
Despite increasing international condemnation, the Israeli government continues to defend its actions as necessary measures against Hamas, while thousands of Palestinians—many detained without charge—continue to suffer in deteriorating conditions.
