East Jerusalem Archives - CrossFireArarbia

Lama Khater Speaks of Abuse, Torture, in Israeli Jails

CrossFireArabia
June 17, 2026

Palestinian prisoner and political activist Lama Khater from Hebron has revealed harrowing details about the treatment of Palestinian women held in Israeli prisons. According to her account, female prisoners are subjected to repression, beatings, strip searches, torture and abuse in what she described as profoundly inhumane conditions.

Khater spoke to her lawyer during a recent prison visit. She was arrested from her home in Hebron by Israeli soldiers in a pre-dawn raid on 23 March.

She said she was first transferred to the “Moscovia” detention centre in occupied Jerusalem, which she described as “hell”. There, female guards allegedly took her to a bathroom and brutally beat her after forcing her to undergo a full strip search.

Khater said she was then thrown into a dark and extremely cold cell. Her hijab was forcibly removed, she was verbally abused, water was poured on her mattress, and her eyeglasses were confiscated.

She added that she and other female prisoners were handcuffed and forced to lower their heads and kneel facing a wall in the prison yard. She said members of the Nahshon riot-control unit then dragged her across the yard while she remained handcuffed.

Harsh Night in Ramla

Khater said conditions in Ramla prison were no better. She was held alone in a cell under constant camera surveillance, including in the bathroom. The cell was infested with insects, and she was forced to sit on a metal bar for prolonged periods.

She described her night in Ramla as horrendous.

Khater was later transferred to Damon prison, where she said she witnessed what she called an “oppressive operation”. During inspections, all female prisoners were allegedly subjected to strip searches before being taken into the prison yard with their hands tied behind their backs. They were then forced to kneel and were dragged around the yard.

Khater said the crackdown left many women writhing in pain, and that some continue to suffer from its effects.

She told her lawyer that she is frequently punished without cause and was denied access to daily exercise for 10 days. She said prison authorities used extreme violence, stun grenades and police dogs during repressive operations.

According to Khater, female prisoners are deliberately blindfolded, handcuffed behind their backs and thrown face down onto the ground so that guards can trample on them. She added that they are also prevented from wearing shoes.

Oppression and Deprivation

Khater is currently being held in Cell No. 9 at Damon Prison alongside prisoners Amna and Ayat Sweilem, Umm al-Baraa Ayash, Salam Mansour, Nevin Abdullah, Fatina al-Sharbati, Shahd Adi, Bushra Qawariq and Naila Saradih.

Female prisoners reportedly suffer from severe overcrowding and are often forced to sleep on the floor. The situation is especially difficult for pregnant prisoners, who, according to Khater, are denied showers and have had their clothing confiscated by guards.

Khater said the women often go to bed hungry because of the meagre and poor-quality food provided. As a result, many combine their three daily meals and eat them together at sunset.

She said breakfast consists of two tablespoons of yoghurt and one tablespoon of jam. Lunch typically includes eight tablespoons of rice, chickpeas and either lentils or baila, a chickpea-based dish. Dinner consists of an egg, two tablespoons of hummus and tahini, and occasionally a small serving of soup.

Lama Abdel-Muttalib Dheeb Khater, 50, is the mother of five children. She is a political analyst and media commentator who has written on literature and politics for several newspapers and websites.

Born in Ramallah in 1976, she holds a bachelor’s degree in Arabic language from the Faculty of Arts at Hebron University. She is known for her writings in support of the Palestinian resistance.

According to recent figures published by the Palestinian Prisoners Club, there are currently 95 Palestinian women held in Israeli prisons. Among them are three girls, while 19 women are being held under administrative detention. The detainees include one child and three pregnant women.

The occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, has witnessed a sustained and unprecedented escalation in the targeting of women through arrest campaigns carried out by the Israeli army.

Prisoner-support organisations say that the testimonies and data they have collected point to violations against female prisoners on an unprecedented scale and with a severity not seen in previous periods.

According to testimonies gathered during lawyers’ visits, there has been an increase in beatings and the use of solitary confinement, along with sexual violations, including verbal harassment, strip searches and the imposition of degrading and physically dangerous positions that threaten the prisoners’ well-being.

This news story is based on a report in Sanad News and reprinted in both crossfirearabia.com and countercurrents.org

News

Gaza Faces Public Health Crises

CrossFireArabia
April 24, 2025

Amid sweltering heat, raw sewage and overflowing trash, displaced families in southern Gaza are facing an escalating public health crisis as aid remains blocked and medical supplies dwindle.

In the makeshift coastal encampments of Al Mawasi, families have no choice but to live in unsanitary conditions that are rapidly turning deadly, Louise Wateridge, Senior Emergency Officer at Palestine refugee agency, UNRWA, told UN News.

She described an increasingly dire situation: malnourished children and families, already worn down by months of war, battle unrelenting heat, unsanitary conditions, a lack of clean water and limited access to healthcare.

“The trash is just out of control. The sewage, the rodents, the pests, the rats, the mice – all of these animals are going between the structures that people are sheltering in,” she said.

As the days hot up, “disease is spreading. There is not enough medicine,” she added. UNRWA teams are conducting intensive clean up campaigns, but their resources are running out.

“They’ve got about 10 days left of pesticides. Supplies are going to run out,” Ms. Wateridge warned.

Heavy equipment destroyed

The worsening conditions are being compounded by the destruction of Gaza’s public health infrastructure.

According to the UN humanitarian coordination office (OCHA), more than 30 vehicles essential for waste management, water supply and sewage maintenance were destroyed by Israeli airstrikes between 21 and 22 April.

In the past week alone, at least 23 reported strikes have hit tents sheltering internally displaced persons (IDPs), killing dozens of civilians – including women, children, and persons with disabilities.

Health system under strain

OCHA also noted that Gaza’s health system is continuing to collapse.

Over half of the remaining health facilities are located in zones under evacuation orders, posing serious access challenges for communities in urgent need. There are also widespread shortages of medicine, equipment and medical staff.

As of 15 April, an estimated 420,000 people have been displaced – many for the second or third time.

Shrinking humanitarian space

Humanitarian space continues to be shut down. Vital humanitarian aid has not entered Gaza for 52 consecutive days.

OCHA noted that between 15 and 21 April, nearly half of the planned humanitarian movements were denied or impeded.

It reported that out of 42 planned aid missions across the Gaza Strip that were coordinated with the Israeli authorities, 20 were denied, two faced impediments, 19 were facilitated and one was cancelled.

Meanwhile, UN agencies also have to contend with lack of funds to sustain their programmes.

As of 22 April, donors have disbursed about $569 million out of the $4.07 billion (about 14 per cent) required to meet the most critical humanitarian needs of three million people requiring assistance in Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.

UN News

News

Saudis Say No to Israeli Displacement Agency

CrossFireArabia
March 24, 2025

Saudi Arabia on Monday condemned Israel’s announcement of establishing an agency aimed at displacing Palestinians from the Gaza Strip.

In a statement, the Saudi Foreign Ministry also denounced “the approval of the separation of 13 illegal settler neighborhoods in the West Bank, paving the way for their legitimization as colonial settlements.”

Saudi Arabia reiterated its “unwavering rejection of Israel’s continuous violations of international law and international humanitarian law.”

The Kingdom further stressed that “lasting and just peace cannot be achieved without the Palestinian people obtaining their legitimate rights in accordance with international legitimacy resolutions, and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state on the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital.”

Israel’s Security Cabinet has approved the formation of a directorate to encourage what it called the “voluntary departure” of Palestinians from the war-ravaged Gaza Strip.

Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a statement late Saturday that the new directorate will work to “prepare for and enable safe and controlled passage of Gaza residents for their voluntary departure to third countries.”

Katz’s office said the new administration will be responsible for establishing movement routes, checking pedestrians at designated crossings in Gaza, and coordinating the provision of infrastructure that will enable passage by land, sea, and air to the destination countries.

Trump has repeatedly called to “take over” Gaza and resettle its population to develop it into a tourist destination. His plan was rejected by the Arab world and many other nations, who say it amounts to ethnic cleansing according to Anadolu.

The Israeli army launched a surprise aerial campaign on the Gaza Strip on March 18, killing at least 730 people and injuring nearly 1,200 others despite a ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement that took hold in January.

Over 50,000 Palestinians have been killed, mostly women and children, and more than 113,000 injured in a brutal Israeli military onslaught on Gaza since October 2023.

The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants last November for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.

News

Cairo Unveils Plan to Rebuild Gaza Without Displacement

CrossFireArabia
March 4, 2025

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi announced a comprehensive plan on Tuesday to rebuild the Gaza Strip without displacing its inhabitants, urging regional and international backing.

Addressing an emergency Arab summit in the New Administrative Capital east of Cairo, Sisi said that Egypt had worked with Palestine and international institutions to develop the plan and called on Arab leaders to endorse it. He also proposed a dedicated fund for its implementation.

The Egyptian leader emphasized that the initiative aims to “preserve the Palestinian people’s right to rebuild their homeland and remain on their land.”

Egypt “will not partake in any injustice against the Palestinian people,” Sisi stressed.

Additionally, he announced an international conference for the Gaza reconstruction set for April and revealed that Egypt and Palestine had formed an independent administration committee to temporarily manage the enclave, monitor the flow of humanitarian aid, and pave the way for the Palestinian Authority’s return to the territory.

Sisi condemned Israel’s war on Gaza, stating that it sought to “empty the strip of its people,” and described the onslaught as a “stain on humanity.”

“We hope that US President (Donald Trump)’s efforts to maintain the ceasefire in Gaza will continue,” he said.

Reaffirming Egypt’s stance on the need for a permanent solution, Sisi asserted that true peace in the region requires a just settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

“Jerusalem is not just a city, but a symbol of our identity,” he stressed.

News

Israel to Build 1000 Settlement Units Near Bethlehem

CrossFireArabia
February 17, 2025

The Israeli government issued a tender to build nearly 1,000 settlement units in the occupied West Bank, an anti-settlement group said on Monday.

The Peace Now group, an Israeli watchdog that monitors settlement building in the West Bank, said 974 additional settler homes will be built in Efrat settlement south of Bethlehem city.

It warned that the construction of an entire neighborhood in the Efrat settlement “blocks the development of the Bethlehem metropolis to the south, and if Israel seeks to annex it to Israel, it will cut off the entire southern West Bank,” according to Anadolu.

The Israeli organization accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of harming Israel’s interests and undermining the two-state solution through imposing realities on the ground.

“While the people of Israel sets their sights on the release of the hostages and an end to the war, the Netanyahu government is operating ‘on steroids’ to establish facts on the ground that will destroy the chance for peace and compromise,” it said.

Nineteen Israeli captives and five Thai workers have been released in exchange for 1,135 Palestinian prisoners under a Gaza ceasefire agreement that took effect on Jan. 19.

The international community, including the UN, considers the Israeli settlements illegal under international law. The UN has repeatedly warned that continued settlement expansion threatens the viability of a two-state solution, a framework seen as key to resolving the decades-long Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

In July 2024, the International Court of Justice declared Israel’s decades-long occupation of Palestinian land illegal and demanded the evacuation of all existing settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.