Israeli forces stormed Musab Zaloum’s home in the occupied West Bank on the night of 30 April as he slept alongside his wife and their two young children.
Separated from his family by soldiers during the raid, he had no idea what was unfolding inside the house.
Only after he was handcuffed, led outside and placed in a military vehicle did a soldier tell him why they had come: his wife, 28-year-old Manar Karaja, who was pregnant with their third child, was being arrested.
“Our children, Ayman, five, and Layla, four, were asleep and didn’t wake up to the soldiers’ voices. But after they took me to the military vehicle, they told me I could go home and that Manar would remain under arrest,” Zaloum told Middle East Eye.
The Palestinian father rushed back to the family home, still handcuffed, and found his children crying uncontrollably.
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They immediately asked where their mother was.
“When they saw me handcuffed, I told them thieves had broken into the house, and we had to fight them off,” he recalled. “I told them their mum would be back in the morning to calm them down a little.
“But she didn’t come back, and I had to tell them the Israeli army had arrested her.”
Since then, Zaloum has struggled to care for the children alone and fill the void left by their mother’s absence. But his greatest concern remains the well-being of his wife and their unborn child.
‘Pregnant prisoners have been subjected to harsh interrogations and detention conditions ‘
– Palestinian Prisoners’ Club
On Monday, the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club warned that three pregnant Palestinian women held by Israel were living in what it described as harsh and degrading conditions inside Damon Prison: Amina al-Taweel, Dana Joudeh and Manar Karaja.
The women are among 93 Palestinian female prisoners currently held in Israeli prisons. Since October 2023, neither their families nor delegates from the International Committee of the Red Cross have been permitted to visit them.
The Prisoners’ Club said conditions for female prisoners had deteriorated sharply in recent months, accusing the Israeli Prison Service (IPS) of imposing increasingly punitive measures.
“Some pregnant prisoners have been subjected to harsh interrogations and detention conditions in cells that lack even the most basic sanitary standards,” the group said in a statement.
“This has exacerbated their physical and psychological suffering, leading to weight loss, emaciation and extreme exhaustion.”
The organisation added that Palestinian women prisoners, including those who are pregnant, have also been subjected to strip searches.
‘Terrible conditions’
Just one day before her arrest, Karaja learned she was two months pregnant.
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She and Zaloum were overjoyed and had begun choosing names for their unborn child, briefly immersed in happiness before her detention.
Now Zaloum spends most of his time worrying about the lack of adequate nutrition and medical care for his wife in prison, describing the conditions as “deplorable”.
“We are, of course, forbidden from visiting her, but volunteer lawyers visit her every few weeks and reassure us about her health,” he said.
“The prison conditions are terrible, and the food is insufficient even for an ordinary prisoner, let alone a pregnant woman who needs a specific dietary plan.”
In messages relayed through her lawyers, Karaja told her family she has been sleeping on the floor since her arrest due to overcrowding in Damon Prison, and suffers from persistent pain throughout her body.
Israel says Karaja is being held on suspicion of incitement based on social media posts, a vague charge frequently used against Palestinian women prisoners. She remains in detention pending trial.
Lack of healthcare
Dana Joudah, 35, from Nablus, was arrested on 18 April and is now five months pregnant. According to her family, she is in poor health.
Her mother said Joudah had undergone gastric bypass surgery just months before her arrest and had only recently discovered she was pregnant. Before she had time to celebrate the news, soldiers raided her home and detained her.
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At the start of her detention, Dana was transferred to the notorious Hasharon detention centre, where female prisoners are reportedly subjected to humiliating strip searches and denied basic necessities, including mattresses and adequate food.
During her detention, Joudah suffered fainting spells and dehydration, yet prison authorities failed to provide appropriate medical care despite her pregnancy and recent surgery, according to the family.
“She told her lawyer that the women sleep on the floor in overcrowded, cold cells,” her mother told MEE.
“Some pregnant prisoners try to support others by sharing portions of bread and food, despite the already meagre rations and poor-quality meals.”
Joudah’s family say they live in constant fear for her health and that of her unborn child, as requests for medical examinations keep getting ignored.
‘Collective punishment’
In Qalqilya, Ali Shawahneh lives in the same state of worry and concern for his wife, Amina al-Taweel.
The 37-year-old mother of four was arrested on 18 March on charges of incitement and remains in detention. She is now four months pregnant.
Shawahneh said her arrest came as a shock, particularly as he is the one who has repeatedly been detained, spending a total of 19 years in Israeli prisons.
Now caring for their four children alone, Shawahneh says he is struggling to meet their emotional needs as they desperately miss their mother.
“On the day of her arrest, I told the officer, ‘Take me instead of her,’” he recalled. “He replied, ‘This time, you’re not the one we’re after – it’s your wife.’ They handcuffed her and took her away while I stood there in shock, and the children cried.”
‘Prisoners face collective punishment, abuse, torture, starvation, isolation, and denial of family visits’
– Helmi al-Araj, Palestinian human rights defender
Al-Taweel remains in detention awaiting trial. Shawahneh hopes she will be released, even under restrictive conditions such as house arrest, so that she can return to her family.
“Amina usually suffers in the early stages of pregnancy and needs intensive care, which is obviously unavailable in prison,” he said.
“During my last detention, I lost more than 60 kilograms because of the poor quality and scarcity of food. How is a pregnant woman supposed to endure that?”
Helmi al-Araj, director of Hurryyat – Centre for Defence of Liberties and Civil Rights, said Israel was crossing “all red lines” in its treatment of female prisoners by neglecting their health, subjecting them to frequent raids, and violating their privacy.
“Prisoners face collective punishment, abuse, torture, starvation, isolation, and denial of family visits,” he told MEE.
“All of this negatively impacts the psychological state of female prisoners who are mothers and pregnant women. This Israeli policy existed even before 7 October, but it has become a deeply entrenched policy based on grave violations of the rights of prisoners.”
According to the Palestinian Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs, more than 9,300 Palestinians are currently held in Israeli prisons, including 93 women and more than 350 children.
The commission says more than 765 women and girls have been arrested since the start of the genocide in Gaza.
Nearly half of all prisoners are held without charge or trial under detention orders that can be renewed indefinitely.
