In a rare and striking rebuke of government policy, Israel’s Supreme Court ruled on Sunday, September 7, 2025, that the state has failed to provide Palestinian security prisoners with adequate food, ordering authorities to improve both the quantity and quality of meals served in detention facilities. The decision, delivered by a three-judge panel, marks one of the few times during the nearly two-year Israel-Hamas war that the country’s highest court has intervened so directly in wartime conduct, according to BBC and Associated Press reports.
The ruling comes amid widespread criticism from rights groups, former prisoners, and international observers about the conditions endured by thousands of Palestinians detained since the war began on October 7, 2023. Many of these detainees, suspected by Israeli authorities of links to Hamas or other militant groups, have been held for months without charge. Released prisoners have described brutal conditions: overcrowding, insufficient food, poor sanitary facilities, lack of medical care, and outbreaks of disease, as documented by BBC and Al Jazeera.
The court’s decision was prompted by a petition filed in 2024 by the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) and the Israeli rights group Gisha. The organizations argued that a shift in food policy after the war’s onset had left Palestinian inmates malnourished and, in some cases, starving. Their complaint characterized the government’s conduct as a “systemic policy” of depriving prisoners of food, a charge the court ultimately found credible.
In its unanimous ruling, the panel declared that the state is legally obligated to provide prisoners with enough food to ensure what it called “a basic level of existence.” The court was explicit: “We are not speaking here of comfortable living or luxury, but of the basic conditions of survival as required by law. Let us not share in the ways of our worst enemies.” The justices ordered the prison service to supply food that meets legal standards for basic subsistence, specifically mandating three meals a day for each prisoner.
The decision was not only a legal milestone but also a pointed moral statement. The court’s language underscored the gravity of the situation, noting “real doubts” that prisoners were eating properly and highlighting the state’s duty to uphold humane standards, even in times of war. According to Al Jazeera, this intervention is particularly notable given the judiciary’s general reluctance to challenge government or military actions during the ongoing conflict, now approaching its second anniversary.
The evidence of abuse and deprivation is grim. Rights groups have documented not just insufficient food and health care, but also poor sanitary conditions and frequent beatings. In March 2025, a 17-year-old Palestinian boy died in Israeli custody, with doctors citing starvation as the likely cause of death. Palestinian authorities say at least 61 Palestinians have died in Israeli custody since the war began, a statistic that has fueled outrage and intensified calls for reform.
The government’s approach to prisoner treatment has been unapologetically harsh. National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who oversees the prison system and leads a far-right ultranationalist party, has repeatedly boasted about reducing conditions for security prisoners to what he calls the bare minimum required by Israeli law. After the Supreme Court ruling, Ben-Gvir lashed out at the judges, accusing them of siding with Hamas militants while Israeli hostages in Gaza “have no one to help them.” He vowed that the policy of providing “the most minimal conditions stipulated by law” would continue unchanged—a stance that has drawn condemnation from rights advocates and opposition politicians alike.
Ben-Gvir’s reaction was characteristically combative. In a post on X, he wrote, “Our hostages in Gaza have no Supreme Court to protect them,” suggesting that the judiciary was now protecting Palestinians instead of Israelis. Just last month, Ben-Gvir was filmed taunting long-imprisoned Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti in his cell, an act widely condemned by Palestinians and human rights groups as cruel and provocative.
The Association for Civil Rights in Israel responded to the ruling with a call for immediate action. In a statement posted on X, the group accused the prison service of having “turned Israeli prisons into torture camps.” Their message was unequivocal: “A state does not starve people. People do not starve people—no matter what they have done.” ACRI also revealed that its staff faced harassment, verbal abuse, and intimidation from senior government officials and far-right Knesset members during the court hearings, which began in late July 2025. The organization described these outbursts as increasingly desperate attempts to silence criticism.
Internationally, the ruling has heightened scrutiny of Israel’s wartime conduct. The country’s refusal to grant the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) access to Palestinian detainees since October 2023 has drawn sharp criticism from humanitarian organizations. Meanwhile, the United Nations continues to regard casualty and deprivation figures from Gaza as reliable, despite Israeli objections. According to the Hamas-run health ministry, more than 64,000 Palestinians have died since the war began, with daily deaths from malnutrition now a grim reality in Gaza itself.
The Supreme Court’s intervention comes at a time of mounting internal and external pressure on the Israeli government. Thousands of Israelis have taken to the streets demanding an end to the war and a deal to free the remaining hostages held by Hamas. Ceasefire talks have repeatedly stalled, and as of early September 2025, no agreement had been reached. U.S. President Donald Trump issued what he called a “last warning” to Hamas to accept a deal for the release of hostages, but the prospects for a resolution remain uncertain.
Despite the Supreme Court’s clear directive, it remains to be seen whether the government will comply or continue to resist. Ben-Gvir’s vow to maintain minimal conditions for prisoners suggests a brewing confrontation between the judiciary and the executive over the treatment of Palestinian detainees. For now, the court’s ruling stands as a rare assertion of legal and moral restraint in a conflict marked by suffering, deprivation, and hardening attitudes on all sides.
Amid the ongoing war and political turmoil, the fate of thousands of Palestinian prisoners—and the standards by which they are treated—has become a litmus test for Israel’s commitment to the rule of law and basic human dignity. As the court’s decision reverberates through Israeli society and beyond, the world watches to see whether justice, in this case, will be more than words on paper.