How Many Palestinians From Gaza Does Israel Hold? 1,477 in December 2025
The Israel Prison Service counted 1,477 Gaza residents held on security grounds at the end of December 2025, of them 1,189 as unlawful combatants.
1,477 residents of the Gaza Strip were held on security grounds in Israel Prison Service facilities at the end of December 2025, on the Prison Service’s own count of its own facilities, published in its fourth-quarter inmates report on 17 March 2026. The ceasefire took effect on 10 October 2025 at 12:00, on the IDF Spokesperson’s published account, so all three months covered by that report fall inside it. The Prison Service counted 1,415 at the end of October and 1,458 at the end of November. Each of the three is a count of people held on the last day of a month, not a count of arrests.
| Figure | What it counts | Who published it | Period |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1,477 | Gaza Strip residents held on security grounds in Prison Service facilities | Israel Prison Service | End of December 2025 |
| 1,189 | Of that total, those held as unlawful combatants | Israel Prison Service | End of December 2025 |
| 245 | Of that total, those held in the category the Service records as held “for days” | Israel Prison Service | End of December 2025 |
| 38 | Of that total, sentenced security prisoners | Israel Prison Service | End of December 2025 |
| 2,366 | Security prisoners held in IDF facilities, not by residence, whom the Prison Service could not absorb | State Comptroller of Israel | February 2025 |
| 1,722 | Gaza detainees approved for release, 1,411 held by the Prison Service and 311 by the IDF | Government of Israel, Decision 3396 | 9 October 2025 |
The Prison Service counted 1,477 Gaza detainees in December 2025
The Israel Prison Service published 1,415 for October, 1,458 for November and 1,477 for December 2025, its own count of people held in its own facilities, classified by the residency class it uses for Gaza Strip residents. Each figure is a stock at a month end, so the movement between two months is the net of people admitted and people released and is not a count of arrests. The October figure spans the ceasefire start of 10 October 2025, and November and December are the first two full months inside it.
1,189 of the December total were held as unlawful combatants
The Israel Prison Service counted 1,189 Gaza residents held as unlawful combatants at the end of December 2025, a category created by the Incarceration of Unlawful Combatants Law, 5762-2002. That count is a subset of the same Service’s Gaza security total for the month and not an addition to it. The Service reported the subset for each of the three months in its own quarterly workbook.
| Month end | Held as unlawful combatants | Gaza residents on security grounds |
|---|---|---|
| October 2025 | 1,130 | 1,415 |
| November 2025 | 1,167 | 1,458 |
| December 2025 | 1,189 | 1,477 |
Source: Israel Prison Service, inmates report for the fourth quarter of 2025, the Service’s own count of its own facilities.
The December total splits into 4 Prison Service categories
The Israel Prison Service records each Gaza detainee under one of eleven holding categories, and for December 2025 it published four of them as carrying the population. The Service counted 38 sentenced security prisoners among the 1,477, with the rest held under categories that carry no sentence. The Service also published security administrative-detention durations for December 2025 across adults generally, 923 held up to 12 months, 681 up to 18 months and 477 up to 24 months, and did not break those durations out by Gaza residence.
| Category, December 2025 | Count |
|---|---|
| Unlawful combatants | 1,189 |
| Held “for days” | 245 |
| Sentenced security prisoners | 38 |
| Remaining categories, each | Fewer than 10 |
Source: Israel Prison Service, inmates report for the fourth quarter of 2025, the Service’s own count.
The count covers Prison Service facilities, not IDF facilities
The Israel Prison Service counts people held in its own facilities and in no others. The State Comptroller of Israel reported 10,147 security prisoners in Prison Service facilities as at February 2025, a further 2,366 security prisoners held in IDF facilities whom the Prison Service could not absorb, and a shortfall of 3,502 incarceration places, in an audit of the state’s own incarceration bodies published on 9 June 2026. Those figures are dated February 2025, before the ceasefire, are not broken out by residence, and belong to a different counting authority than the monthly Gaza figures above.
| Figure | What it counts | Who published it | Period |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10,147 | Security prisoners in Prison Service facilities | State Comptroller of Israel | February 2025 |
| 2,366 | Security prisoners in IDF facilities | State Comptroller of Israel | February 2025 |
| 3,502 | Shortfall of incarceration places for security prisoners | State Comptroller of Israel | February 2025 |
The Prison Service publishes no count of arrests since the ceasefire
The Israel Prison Service publishes month-end stocks by category and by district of residence, and publishes no figure for arrests, new admissions or detention orders issued after 10 October 2025. Its coarser residence cut counted 4,052 adults from the territories in October 2025, 4,238 in November and 4,105 in December, a grouping that does not separate Gaza. The Government of Israel, in Decision 3396 of 9 October 2025, approved the release of 1,700 Gaza detainees it describes as not having been involved in the events of 7 October 2023 together with 22 minors in the same category, 1,411 of them held by the Prison Service and 311 by the IDF, and published no subsequent detention figure.
Which of these figures may not be added together?
The monthly Gaza figures are the Israel Prison Service’s own count of people held in its own facilities at a month end, so a difference between two months is a net change and not an arrest count. The 1,189 unlawful combatants sit inside the 1,477 and are not additional to it. The State Comptroller’s 10,147 and 2,366 are dated February 2025, are not broken out by residence, and may not be added to the Prison Service’s monthly Gaza figures. The 1,722 in Decision 3396 is a release approval by the Government of Israel and a separate category from the 250 prisoners and detainees the same decision approved for release.
Questions readers ask
Has Israel published a figure for Gaza detainees during the ceasefire?
Yes. The Israel Prison Service published 1,415, 1,458 and 1,477 Gaza residents held on security grounds at the ends of October, November and December 2025, its own count of its own facilities.
Is the figure rising or falling?
The Israel Prison Service counted a rise of 62 across the quarter, from 1,415 at the end of October 2025 to 1,477 at the end of December 2025.
Does that mean 62 people were arrested?
No. The Israel Prison Service publishes a stock at each month end, which is the net of admissions and releases, and it publishes no arrest or new-admission count for the period.
How many are held without a sentence?
The Israel Prison Service counted 38 sentenced security prisoners among the 1,477 held at the end of December 2025; the remainder are recorded under categories that carry no sentence.
What is an unlawful combatant in this count?
It is a statutory holding category under the Incarceration of Unlawful Combatants Law, 5762-2002, and the Israel Prison Service counted 1,189 Gaza residents under it at the end of December 2025.
Are administrative detainees counted separately?
Yes. The Israel Prison Service records administrative detention as its own category and published detention durations for December 2025 of 923 up to 12 months, 681 up to 18 months and 477 up to 24 months, across adults and not separated by Gaza residence.
Does the Prison Service figure cover everyone Israel holds?
No. The State Comptroller of Israel reported 2,366 security prisoners held in IDF facilities as at February 2025, outside the Prison Service count.
Does the residency class say where a person was taken?
No. The Israel Prison Service classifies detainees by where they reside on its own record, not by place of capture.
What did the cabinet decide about Gaza detainees?
The Government of Israel, in Decision 3396 of 9 October 2025, approved the release of 1,700 Gaza detainees and 22 minors in the same category, 1,411 held by the Prison Service and 311 by the IDF.
When did the ceasefire begin?
The IDF Spokesperson published that the ceasefire took effect on 10 October 2025 at 12:00, with 72 hours designated for the return of hostages.
Does any Israeli body publish a count of detention orders issued since then?
Not in these publications. The Israel Prison Service publishes month-end stocks and categories, and no Israeli body cited here has published an arrest or detention-order count for the period after 10 October 2025.
Where can the monthly figures be checked?
The Israel Prison Service publishes them as a quarterly freedom-of-information workbook, and the Gaza residency figures sit on its residency-by-prisoner-type sheet.
Sources
- Government of Israel, 2025. Decision 3396, Framework for the release of all Israeli hostages. Government Secretariat, Prime Minister’s Office, 9 October 2025. Official record.
- Israel Defense Forces Spokesperson, 2025. Division 252 activity in the yellow line area. War diary, 4 November 2025. A party’s own published account of its own operations.
- Israel Prison Service, 2026. Inmates report, fourth quarter 2025. Freedom-of-information quarterly, published 17 March 2026. Official record.
- State Comptroller of Israel, 2026. Incarceration, Release and Prosecution of Security Prisoners Following the Iron Swords War. Annual-report series, published 9 June 2026. Official record.
