Israel currently holds on the order of ten thousand Palestinians in its prisons and detention facilities, but the exact number depends on what is counted and the date of the estimate.

Latest approximate numbers

  • At the end of December 2024, the Israeli Prison Service was holding 9,619 Palestinians on what it defines as “security” grounds, including about 2,216 from Gaza.
  • Palestinian prisoners’ institutions reported that by October 2025 , the total number of Palestinian detainees in Israeli custody had risen to more than 11,100 , the highest level since the Second Intifada.
  • Another rights-based estimate from December 2025 put the number of Palestinian prisoners and detainees in Israeli prisons at around 9,300 , noting this does not include additional people held in army-run camps.

Because arrests and releases are happening constantly, and because many Gazans are held in military camps or under special classifications, any figure is a moving target rather than a fixed, official total.

Who is counted as a “prisoner”?

When people ask “how many Palestinian prisoners does Israel have,” different sources include slightly different categories.

Key groups often counted:

  • Sentenced prisoners : Those tried and convicted in Israeli courts; one 2025 snapshot mentioned about 1,254 sentenced detainees.
  • Administrative detainees : Held without formal charge or trial under administrative detention orders; mid‑2025 sources mention figures in the mid‑3,000s at times.
  • “Unlawful combatants” from Gaza : Held under a separate law; an early‑January 2026 filing cited 1,287 Gazans detained under this status, many in prison‑service facilities.
  • Women and children : Late‑2025 data mentioned around 50–53 women and more than 350–400 children in Israeli prisons, mainly in Ofer and Megiddo.

Not all of these categories are always added together in official public tallies, and detainees in some military or field facilities may be missing from standard statistics.

Why the numbers vary

Several factors make it hard to give a single, stable figure:

  • Ongoing war‑time arrests : Since October 2023, large waves of arrests in the West Bank and from Gaza have repeatedly increased the totals, sometimes doubling previous numbers.
  • Different authorities and locations : Some Palestinians are in Israel Prison Service facilities, others in army bases or temporary camps, and not every site is reflected in published prison‑service data.
  • Changing legal status : People may move between being “security” prisoners, administrative detainees, or “unlawful combatants,” and those changes shift the way they appear in statistics.

Because of these dynamics, most serious organizations talk in ranges and time‑stamped snapshots rather than a single, timeless number.

How this appears in news and forums

  • News outlets and rights groups frequently state that Israel is holding around ten thousand Palestinians , often adding that many are without trial under administrative detention.
  • Palestinian and solidarity organizations sometimes cite even higher figures when they include all Gaza detainees in army camps and short‑term arrests, arguing that the real total is undercounted in official numbers.
  • Forum discussions and social media posts often repeat these figures but may round them and mix different dates, so it is important to check whether numbers are tied to a specific month and year.

In practical terms, if you see recent claims like “Israel is holding over 10,000 Palestinian prisoners,” they are generally referring to the broad, late‑2024 and 2025 range documented by human‑rights organizations and Palestinian prisoners’ institutions.

TL;DR: Recent human‑rights and prisoners’‑institutions data from late 2024–2025 show Israel holding roughly 9,500–11,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees at any given time, with thousands under administrative detention and additional Gazans classified as “unlawful combatants” or held in army camps.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.