As the Israel Prison Service serves lunch to settlers at its facilities, Palestinian prisoner rights groups warn of continued hunger amid Ramadan
The head of the Israel Prison Service (IPS), Kobi Yaakobi, invited a group of settlers on a so-called “safari tour” to see Palestinian inmates as they lie on the ground and handcuffed.
According to a report published by the Israeli news website Shomrim, far-right Israelis from the illegal Har Homa settlement in Jerusalem visited one of the state’s maximum security prisons.
Chief Commissioner Yaakobi, who regularly attends the settlement’s synagogues, was receiving the group. The tour, according to the report, included a visit to several prisoner wards, a Torah class and even lunch.
“Importantly, Israel Prison Service facilities are not open to visits by citizens who wish to ‘be impressed’ and have strict entry procedures regarding who is permitted to enter,” the article noted.
The IPS has always been selective about who enters its facilities, including restrictions on visits by family and lawyers, as well as prohibitions on human rights groups from conducting investigations.
In September, prison authorities reinforced a total ban on Red Cross visits to Palestinian inmates, insisting that entry by these groups would pose a “threat to national security.”
Shomrim reports that more than 20 settlers were detained in Har Homa and taken to Nitzan Prison, near Ramla, where the author described the visit as a “safari” tour.
The trip began with a visit to the criminal wings, followed by a tour of the most secure wing in Israel, where those accused of belonging to Hamas’s Nukhba – its elite unit – are detained.
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Visitors to the prison reported that detainees were forced to lie on the floor and handcuffed.
An IPS source indicated that this is how detainees are restrained during operational activities.
After a question-and-answer session, the settlers were served a hearty, specially prepared lunch, it was reported.
Hunger during Ramadan
While the IPS feeds settlers who visit its facilities, Palestinian prisoner rights groups warn of the continued hunger that detainees suffer.
With the arrival of the holy month of Ramadan, reports of abuse and torture have only increased.
The Commission on Detainee and Ex-Detainee Affairs said in a statement over the weekend that prisoners are not only deprived of adequate knowledge of the time to start and end the fast, but are also not informed of the arrival of Ramadan.
Khaled Mahajna, a lawyer for the commission, recalled an episode in which he asked a prisoner how his fast was going.
“He looked at me and said, ‘Today is Ramadan?! No one told us it was starting,'” said Mahajna, noting that the prison administration is trying to “eliminate” the joy of Palestinian prisoners.
The lawyer and human rights defender added that prisoners are deprived of suhoor, a meal consumed before dawn, when Muslims begin their fast, and that at iftar – the breaking of the fast – they are offered only leftover food.
Originally published by Middle East Eye on 02/23/2026
By Mera Aladam
Source: https://www.ocafezinho.com/2026/02/23/colonos-israelenses-participam-de-um-safari-com-prisioneiros-palestinos/
