RAMALLAH, Occupied Palestine / PNN/ 

The Israeli Prison Service has increasingly used rubber-coated bullets against Palestinian political prisoners in recent months, marking what the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society (PPS) described Monday as a dangerous escalation in the treatment of detainees inside Israeli prisons.

In a statement, the PPS said the firing of rubber-coated bullets has become a systematic punitive measure carried out during repeated prison raids and assaults. The organization said it has documented dozens of cases in which prisoners were shot, while warning that the true number is likely much higher because Israeli authorities continue to impose severe restrictions on prison visits and isolate detainees, limiting independent documentation of abuses.

According to the PPS, many of the wounded prisoners sustained severe bleeding in their limbs and other sensitive parts of the body. Several required surgery, while one prisoner was reportedly told by doctors that the seriousness of his injury could lead to the amputation of a limb. The organization said most of the injured continue to require specialized medical treatment but are being deliberately denied adequate care, describing the policy as part of a broader pattern of "slow killing" inside Israeli prisons.

Palestinian Prisoner’s Society says dozens of detainees have suffered serious wounds amid what it describes as an escalating system of torture and medical neglect.

The organization said prison authorities have also expanded the range of force used against detainees, introducing new weapons and methods during raids. It argued that Palestinian prisoners have effectively become a testing ground for increasingly harsh measures, particularly since the outbreak of the war in Gaza, adding that some of these practices have been publicly highlighted by Israeli media as evidence of tougher prison policies.

The PPS said violence inside Israeli prisons has reached unprecedented levels, with detention facilities becoming part of what it described as an integrated system of torture. According to the organization, prisoners are subjected to physical and psychological abuse, humiliation, prolonged starvation, medical neglect, solitary confinement and repeated violent assaults designed to break them physically and mentally.

Beyond the physical injuries, the organization warned that the repeated use of force has left many prisoners suffering from lasting psychological trauma. It said detainees continue to endure violent raids and intimidation in an environment marked by continuous abuse and the absence of minimum legal and humanitarian safeguards.

The PPS renewed its call for urgent international intervention, urging the United Nations, the International Committee of the Red Cross and other international human rights mechanisms to take immediate action to protect Palestinian prisoners and investigate the reported abuses.

The organization said those responsible should be held accountable under international humanitarian law, arguing that the reported practices violate the Geneva Conventions and the Convention Against Torture and warrant investigation as potential war crimes and crimes against humanity.