RAMALLAH, August 17, 2026 (WAFA) — The Palestinian Prisoner's Society (PPS) said today that cases of scabies have been reported among Palestinian women prisoners held in Israel's Damon prison, with at least 10 women confirmed to have contracted the disease out of more than 90 women detained there.
The organization said the information was based on recent visits conducted by human rights institutions, including the PPS. It noted that those detained include pregnant women, minors and women suffering from chronic health conditions.
In a statement, the PPS said the outbreak of scabies among women prisoners is directly linked to the harsh health and humanitarian conditions imposed by the Israeli prison administration, including high humidity, a shortage of cleaning supplies, overcrowding in rooms and cells, inadequate ventilation and a severe shortage of clothing.
It said the same conditions have contributed to the widespread spread of the disease among Palestinian prisoners since May 2024.
The PPS stressed that the continued spread of scabies, more than two years after it was first documented, reflects the lack of any serious response by Israel's prison system to the underlying causes of the outbreak.
It said that despite efforts by specialized organizations, including Physicians for Human Rights, and the filing of several petitions demanding treatment for infected prisoners and action to address the conditions causing the disease, the Israeli response has remained limited and has failed to halt its spread or provide genuine protection to prisoners.
The organization said scabies is no longer merely a temporary skin disease in Israeli prisons, but has become a serious threat to prisoners' lives amid the denial of treatment and the continued existence of conditions that facilitate its spread.
It said the disease has contributed in numerous cases to the deterioration of prisoners' health and, in some instances, led to severe complications that resulted in the deaths of prisoners.
The PPS cited the case of child prisoner Mohammad Hamid, whose scabies infection led to a bacterial infection that caused damage to vital organs and later to his nervous system, eventually resulting in the amputation of one of his legs. It described the case as one of several documenting the serious consequences the disease can have in the absence of adequate treatment and medical care.
The organization said a large number of prisoners have contracted the disease and partially recovered before becoming infected again due to the continuation of the same conditions inside the prisons. Others have suffered from the disease for months, with some cases lasting more than five consecutive months without receiving effective treatment or serious medical intervention.
It said infected prisoners suffer from boils, skin ulcers and severe inflammation as the disease worsens without treatment, in addition to sleep deprivation caused by intense itching and persistent pain. In some cases, these symptoms have restricted prisoners' ability to move normally, while their psychological suffering has intensified as a result of prolonged pain and illness.
The PPS said the Israeli prison administration continues to impose conditions conducive to the spread of the disease, including denying prisoners personal hygiene supplies, maintaining severe overcrowding, inadequate ventilation, preventing exposure to sunlight and imposing a severe shortage of clothing. As a result, prisoners are often forced to wash their clothes and wear them while still wet, further undermining their health and dignity.
It stressed that newly documented infections among women prisoners in Damon prison confirm that the threat posed by scabies remains ongoing and widespread, and cannot be treated as merely a health crisis inside prisons while the conditions that produce and reproduce the disease persist.
The PPS said the continued imposition of such conditions, alongside the denial of medical treatment and healthcare, forms part of a broader system of policies of torture and systematic medical neglect against prisoners. It said diseases and epidemics, together with the denial of medical care, are being used as tools that exhaust prisoners, endanger their lives and leave profound physical and psychological effects.
The organization renewed its call on the World Health Organization and all international human rights and humanitarian institutions to take urgent and immediate action to stop what it described as systematic medical abuses against prisoners and to pressure the Israeli authorities to end the policies and conditions that have turned prisons into environments conducive to disease and epidemics.
It also called for a serious international investigation into the circumstances surrounding the spread of diseases inside prisons and for those responsible for maintaining such policies to be held accountable. It stressed that international silence over such abuses cannot continue and that protecting prisoners and ensuring their right to treatment and healthcare is a legal and humanitarian responsibility that cannot be further delayed.
K.T
