Israeli minister orders food reduction for Palestinian prisoners

Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir says he has ordered a further reduction in the amount of food offered to Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.

After 7 October, Ben Gvir closed prison canteens and kitchens, leaving Palestinian detainees entirely reliant on the prisons themselves for food.

Following dozens of testimonies from security prisoners and detainees describing that the Prison Service has significantly reduced their food rations, to the point of starvation, causing them to shed dozens of kilograms, a petition was filed by the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI).

The petition is being heard on Wednesday by the High Court of Justice.

In a letter to the petitioners, Ben Gvir wrote that the reduction of food given to prisoners was meant for deterrent purposes.

"There is no starvation, but my policy does call for reducing conditions, including food and calories," the letter reads.

He also wrote that “the changes in incarceration conditions, including the changes in food, are directly affecting deterrence, with potential assailants abstaining from committing terrorist actions so as not to be put in 'the occupation's prisons'."

ACRI has challenged the food restrictions in court, arguing they amount to a policy of starvation.