Gaza: On April 17, Palestinians across the West Bank and Gaza took to the streets for Prisoner’s Day, marching in solidarity with tens of thousands of men and women held in Israeli jails.
Organizers and human rights groups say detainees face some of the harshest conditions imaginable: no visits from family, lawyers, or doctors, and frequent reports of torture, abuse and even starvation at the hands of prison authorities. crowds waving flags and chanting for the right to fair treatment.
That same day, the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society announced that 20‑year‑old Musab Hassan Adili from Nablus had died overnight in Israel’s Soroka Hospital. Adili was arrested in March of last year, given a 13‑month sentence, and was expected to go free in just days. His passing raises to 64 the number of Palestinians who have died in custody since the Hamas‑led October 7, 2023 attack.
On this day in 1974, the first Palestinian to be freed in a prisoner exchange with Israel was Mahmoud Bakr Hijazi. Later on, it was declared to honour all Palestinian prisoners and draw attention to Israel's continued detention and rights abuses of Palestinians.
Prisoner’s Day has been observed each April 17 to highlight the plight of Palestinians in detention and press for their rights. Beyond Adili’s death, rights groups report that at least half of these cases involve so‑called administrative detention—where people are held without charge or trial for months on end. Organizers say international intervention is needed to guarantee legal safeguards, medical care and proper family contact for all detainees, many of whom are held without formal charges or fair hearings.
