How Many Palestinians Are Held in Israeli Prisons? 6,762 West Bank Residents in October 2025
The Israel Prison Service held 6,762 Judea and Samaria residents on security grounds at the end of October 2025, 3,273 of them in administrative detention.
At the end of October 2025, 6,762 residents of Judea and Samaria were held on security grounds in Israel Prison Service facilities, on the Service’s own end-of-month count. The same count held 301 East Jerusalem residents and 1,415 Gaza Strip residents on security grounds. The State Comptroller recorded a further 2,366 security prisoners held in IDF facilities in February 2025, outside the Prison Service’s count.
| Figure | What it counts | Period |
|---|---|---|
| 6,762 | Judea and Samaria residents held on security grounds, by the Service’s residence class | End of October 2025 |
| 301 | East Jerusalem residents held on security grounds | End of October 2025 |
| 1,415 | Gaza Strip residents held on security grounds, the Service’s class אזח״ע | End of October 2025 |
Source: Israel Prison Service, Inmates report, fourth quarter 2025, sheet 6. The Service’s own count of people in its own facilities at month end. The three rows are separate residence classes and carry no combined total.
The Prison Service held 6,762 Judea and Samaria residents in October 2025
The Israel Prison Service counted 6,762 Judea and Samaria residents held on security grounds at the end of October 2025, its own count of the people in its own facilities on that date. The figure is a stock on one day, not a count of people detained over a period. Each residence row carries the same scope:
- Residence class, not nationality and not place of capture. The class records where a person lives on the Service’s own record.
- Security grounds only. The same report classifies people held on criminal grounds separately.
- Prison Service facilities only. People held in IDF facilities sit outside the count.
- October straddles the ceasefire that began on 10 October 2025. November and December are the first months wholly inside it.
- Gaza Strip residents, 1,415 at the end of October 2025, are set out by month and holding category in the record on Palestinians from Gaza held during the ceasefire.
3,273 of the 6,762 were held in administrative detention
The Israel Prison Service recorded 3,273 administrative detainees among the 6,762 Judea and Samaria residents it held on security grounds at the end of October 2025, on its own count. A further 2,591 were held in the category the Service abbreviates עת״ה. The remaining rows fall in the Service’s other holding categories.
| Figure | Category, in the Service’s terms | Period |
|---|---|---|
| 6,762 | All Judea and Samaria residents held on security grounds | End of October 2025 |
| 3,273 | Administrative detainees | End of October 2025 |
| 2,591 | Held in the עת״ה category | End of October 2025 |
Source: Israel Prison Service, Inmates report, fourth quarter 2025, sheet 6, the Service’s own count.
The Service also publishes how long adult security administrative detainees had been held, for December 2025 only.
The Comptroller counted 2,366 more held in IDF facilities
The State Comptroller recorded 2,366 security prisoners held in IDF facilities in February 2025, people the Prison Service could not absorb. That figure is the Comptroller’s own count from its audit, not an IDF publication, and the audit states that it did not examine incarceration in IDF-run facilities.
| Figure | What it counts | Period |
|---|---|---|
| 10,147 | Security prisoners held in Prison Service facilities | February 2025 |
| 1,136 | Security prisoners above the maximum the standard allows since the incarceration emergency was declared | February 2025 |
| 2,366 | Further security prisoners held in IDF facilities | February 2025 |
| 3,502 | Shortfall of incarceration places for security prisoners | February 2025 |
Source: State Comptroller of Israel, Incarceration, Release and Prosecution of Security Prisoners Following the Iron Swords War, published 9 June 2026.
“Security prisoners” is the Comptroller’s category, not a count by nationality. The report lists five legal statuses inside it:
- Sentenced security prisoners
- Administrative detainees held in Israel
- Administrative detainees held in Judea and Samaria
- Unlawful combatants
- People under criminal investigation pending indictment
February 2025 is a different month and a different category from the Prison Service’s October 2025 rows, so the two bodies’ figures are not added together or set against each other.
Security prisoners rose from 5,200 to about 10,000 after 7 October
The State Comptroller recorded 5,200 security prisoners on the eve of the war, among 16,200 people held against a statutory standard of 14,500 places. As at January 2025 it recorded 23,400 people held, about 10,000 of them security prisoners, a rise the report writes as about 92%.
- The statutory standard of 14,500 places was set by an amendment to the Prisons Ordinance in February 2023.
- On the eve of the war the 16,200 held exceeded that standard by about 1,700, which the report writes as about 12%.
- About 4,800 more security prisoners were held in January 2025 than in October 2023. That is the net difference between two counts on two dates, not a number of people arrested.
No Prison Service figure here counts Palestinian children or women
The sheets of the Israel Prison Service’s fourth-quarter 2025 report cited on this page classify security inmates by residence, holding category and length of administrative detention, on the Service’s own count. None of them gives a count of minors or a count by sex.
The one age-related cut is sheet 7, which counts adults from “the territories” by district of residence:
- 4,052 at the end of October 2025
- 4,238 at the end of November 2025
- 4,105 at the end of December 2025
These are adult counts on a coarser district cut. A count of minors is not derived by subtracting them from any other row on this page.
Which figures may not be added together?
None of the Israel Prison Service rows may be added to the State Comptroller’s figures. The Service’s rows are its own count of its own facilities at month ends in late 2025, by residence class; the Comptroller counts “security prisoners”, five legal statuses, in early 2025. The 2,366 held in IDF facilities is the Comptroller’s count, not the IDF’s own. Every figure here is a stock on a date, so a difference between two dates is a net change, never a count of arrests, and rounded Comptroller figures keep their “about”.
Questions readers ask
How many Gaza residents does the Israel Prison Service hold?
The Israel Prison Service counted 1,415 Gaza Strip residents held on security grounds at the end of October 2025 and 1,477 at the end of December 2025, its own count of its own facilities.
How many of the Gaza residents are held as unlawful combatants?
The Israel Prison Service counted 1,130 Gaza Strip residents held as unlawful combatants at the end of October 2025. Unlawful combatant is a statutory category under the Incarceration of Unlawful Combatants Law 5762-2002, one holding category among eleven in the report.
How many East Jerusalem residents are held on security grounds?
The Israel Prison Service counted 301 East Jerusalem residents held on security grounds at the end of October 2025.
Does residence class mean where someone was arrested?
No. The Israel Prison Service records residence on its own record, and the class says nothing about where a person was taken.
Is administrative detention part of the security prisoner category?
Yes. The State Comptroller lists administrative detainees held in Israel and administrative detainees held in Judea and Samaria among the five statuses its “security prisoners” category covers.
Does the Prison Service count people held by the army?
No. The Israel Prison Service counts its own facilities only, and the State Comptroller recorded 2,366 security prisoners in IDF facilities in February 2025, on the Comptroller’s count rather than the IDF’s own.
Do these figures show how many people were arrested?
No. The Israel Prison Service published end-of-month stocks, so a rise between two months is arrivals net of releases, not a count of arrests.
Was the October 2025 count taken after the ceasefire?
Partly. The Israel Prison Service report’s October figure is an end-of-month stock, and the ceasefire began on 10 October 2025, so November and December are the first months wholly inside it.
How many people does Israel hold in prison overall?
The State Comptroller recorded 23,400 people held as at January 2025, across all categories, of whom about 10,000 were security prisoners.
How many prison places does Israel have?
The State Comptroller recorded a statutory standard of 14,500 incarceration places on the eve of the war, set by an amendment to the Prisons Ordinance in February 2023.
Which prisons hold security prisoners?
The State Comptroller recorded 30 incarceration facilities nationally. The main prisons holding security prisoners are Gilboa and Megiddo in the north, Ofer in the centre, and Ketziot and Ganot in the south.
Have the suspects in the 7 October attack been charged?
The State Comptroller recorded 0 indictments as at February 2026 against those suspected of grave crimes in the 7 October attack. The report attributes this to a joint decision of the Prime Minister and the Minister of Justice not to advance prosecutions while hostages were held, and states that several hundred are expected.
Sources
- Israel Prison Service, 2026. דו״ח כלואים רבעון 4 לשנת 2025 (Inmates report, fourth quarter 2025). Freedom-of-information quarterly, published 17 March 2026, data generated 15 February 2026. https://www.gov.il/he/pages/kluim425. Official or primary record.
- State Comptroller of Israel, 2026. כליאה, שחרור והעמדה לדין של אסירים ביטחוניים בעקבות מלחמת חרבות ברזל (Incarceration, Release and Prosecution of Security Prisoners Following the Iron Swords War). Annual-report series, report 10565, published 9 June 2026. https://library.mevaker.gov.il/sites/DigitalLibrary/Pages/Reports/10565-1.aspx. Official or primary record.
