Issued by Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association, the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society, and the Commission of Detainees’ Affairs.

April 30, 2025

Ramallah, Palestine – As Palestinian prisoner defense and advocacy groups, we have sent an urgent appeal to Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), calling for immediate international intervention into the horrific health conditions for Palestinian political prisoners held in the Israeli occupation’s prisons which are leading to an unprecedented rate of deaths in custody.

The appeal highlighted the outbreak of a number of diseases including scabies skin disease and amoebic infections, chronic diarrhea, continuous vomiting, in addition to other serious skin diseases. Child detainees are also exhibiting symptoms of undiagnosed and untreated dermatological illnesses.

All detainees are being denied their right to medical care, and the prison administration refuses to treat the root cause of these illnesses, which is the inhumane and unhygienic detention conditions inside the prisons.

This intentional medical neglect constitutes part of the escalating medical crimes that have been practiced against Palestinian detainees since the start of the genocide in October 2023. The institutions emphasized that every prisoner visited by legal teams suffers from at least one health issue, reflecting the extent of the disaster.

The appeal to the Director-General states: "This is not just a public health emergency — it is a humanitarian catastrophe," noting the martyrdom of at least 65 Palestinian prisoners since the genocide, including a 17-year-old child who was killed through starvation and subsequent diseases. The appeal also noted that diseases have spread across various prisons — particularly in the Naqab, Megiddo, Gilboa, and Ofer prisons.

The institutions urged the WHO to exert immediate pressure on the Israeli occupation authorities to comply with international health standards and the Geneva Conventions, and to ensure the provision of necessary medications and urgent medical care — including transfers to external hospitals for critical cases. They also called for independent international medical oversight inside Israeli prisons and for holding occupation authorities accountable for their ongoing violations and crimes against Palestinian detainees.

"The deliberate denial of healthcare and hygienic necessities constitutes cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment,” the appeal reads. "The international community — especially the World Health Organization — must act immediately to save the lives of thousands of prisoners in the occupation’s prisons."