Palestinians Detained By Soldiers Without Cause

Illustrative. Photo: Rachel Druck, ACRI

On May 14, 2026, ACRI, the Fund for Human Rights Defenders, Haqel – Alliance for the Defense of Human Rights, and HaMoked: Center for the Defense of the Individual filed a Supreme Court petition against the increasingly widespread practice of soldiers in the occupied territories detaining Palestinians without cause and contrary to the law. 

The petition describes dozens of cases in which Palestinian residents were detained for no discernable reason, taken to a military base, and held for many hours in harsh conditions, including in extreme temperatures, without food or water, without access to restrooms, and/or while being painfully restrained or blindfolded. In extreme cases, they were subjected to actual violence. Their relatives were not notified of their whereabouts, and nothing was done to ascertain their identity or question them in connection with any offense: they were simply subjected to abuse and humiliation for no apparent reason. Eventually, they were abandoned in open areas, sometimes without identification documents or a phone, and were forced to find their own way home. At times, the detentions were carried out at the request of settlers or with their involvement. 

The petition argues that this practice violates the prohibition under Israeli law against depriving a person of their liberty without authority or as a punitive measure, as well as prohibitions under international law on arbitrary or inhumane punishment or punishment for purposes of deterrence. These detentions infringe on the rights to liberty and freedom of movement; when soldiers' authority is exercised arbitrarily, discriminatorily, or without restraint, it also leads to additional human rights violations, including the rights to dignity, autonomy, equality, due process, privacy, and physical and mental integrity. This practice of unlawful detentions is being used as a means of denying Palestinian residents the rights and protections due to them, and is also a means of restricting access to agricultural and grazing lands, and for harassment, intimidation, and punishment. The petition emphasizes the army’s duty to ensure the human rights of Palestinian residents and to ensure that soldiers act strictly within the bounds of their authority. 

The State responded in August 2026, claiming that the procedures had been refined and that as a result the situation on the ground had improved, though it did not support the claim with concrete data. The State further claimed that there a secret procedure authorizes soldiers to detain Palestinians on bases, and that all other problems that the petitioners had pointed out had been resolved, making the petition redundant.

This is problematic in a number of ways, which we laid out in our September 2026 response. There is a legal order governing the circumstances under which solders can detain an individual, and how long that person can be detained before being released. A "secret procedure" cannot override a legal order and grant soldiers the authority to arbitrarily detain people on bases and keep them for unspecified and unlimited amounts of time. Moreover, the State’s assertion that the problems laid out in the petition had been resolved does not reflect the reality on the ground, which has not only seen no improvement, it has significantly deteriorated.

HCJ 41036-05-26 Awad v. Commander of IDF Forces in the West Bank 

Attorneys: Hila Sharon and Reut Shaar 

The petition, May 14, 2026 (Heb) 

Preliminary response from the State, August 2026 (Heb)

Response from the petitioners, September 2026 (Heb)

The petition was written with the assistance of legal intern Saly May 

The following are the appeals sent to the military prior to filing the petition. The appeals were sent by ACRI, the Fund for Human Rights Defenders, Haqel – Alliance for the Defense of Human Rights, and HaMoked: Center for the Defense of the Individual: 

Organizations’ appeal, January 5, 2026 (Heb) 

Organizations’ appeal, February 27, 2026 (Heb) 

Reminder, March 17, 2026 (Heb)