High Court demands answers on ‘starvation’ of security prisoners; Ben Gvir: ‘A shield for Hamas terrorists’

The High Court of Justice issues an order against the state over its policies regarding nutrition for security prisoners held in Israeli jails, which human rights groups allege have resulted in their starvation since the outbreak of war following Hamas’s October 7, 2023, massacre.

The court instructs the state to explain “why it should not take steps to guarantee that security prisoners will be provided with food that enables basic conditions of existence” following a petition against National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and the acting head of the Israel Prison Service over the issue.

According to the Association for Civil Rights in Israel and Gisha organizations, which filed the petition in April, testimony from prisoners and security detainees has indicated that the prison service has been “deploying a policy of starvation towards Palestinian prisoners and detainees” since October 7.

“Recently released prisoners testified that they suffered from constant and extreme hunger and very poor quality of food,” ACRI and Gisha alleged in their petition, submitting testimony from a diabetic prisoner who allegedly ate toothpaste to raise his blood sugar level, and from prisoners “who lost tens of kilograms in weight in recent months.”

The petition demands that security prisoners be provided with “food in the quantity and composition suitable for maintaining their health and identical to that supplied to the other prisoners.”

Ben Gvir in response accuses the High Court of acting as “a shield for the [Hamas] Nukhba [terrorists] and sick human beings who slaughtered, raped, burnt and kidnapped our sons and daughters with Nazi cruelty.”

The far-right minister insists the IPS fulfills the law and gives “the minimum necessary according to the law, and not a gram more,” adding that on his watch “the era of parties, marmalade, and mutton has ended… terrorist jails won’t be hotels anymore.”

Justice Minister Yariv Levin, who is embroiled in a severe fight with the judiciary, also criticizes the court, accusing the three justices who issued the order of “worrying over prisoner conditions,” adding “does anyone else think it’s possible to continue like this?”