Rights groups say Israeli guards shot prisoners with rubber rounds, causing severe injuries

Mixed · 2Physicians for Human Rights Israel and the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel have documented shootings of prisoners by Israeli prison guards with rubber or plastic ammunition, some causing injuries that needed surgery. 1 2 Centre · 1Anadolu Agency, citing a Haaretz report published Wednesday, said the groups had documented 21 shooting incidents across five Israeli prisons since October 2023, most in late 2025 and the first half of 2026. 1 Right · 1Arab News, citing a statement the groups issued on Thursday, said they had received at least 22 accounts, most from the past year: 21 from Palestinian prisoners and one from a Jewish prisoner, spanning seven facilities (Ofer, Ganot, Ktzi'ot, Gilboa, Megido, Nitzan and Eshel). 2

Mixed · 2The most severe case involved a prisoner shot in June at Ketziot, whose testicle Soroka hospital records show was crushed and surgically removed. Arab News describes him as a 45-year-old whose record cited "a disturbance and an incident of rubber-bullet fire". 1 2 Centre · 1In his testimony to his lawyer, as reported by Anadolu, the prisoner said guards had kicked him in the testicles during a strip search a week earlier, and that Masada unit members then fired rubber bullets into his cell. He said he was dragged about 50 metres while bleeding heavily. 1 Mixed · 2A second case involved a fractured shin or leg that required hospitalisation and surgery, backed by prison or Physicians for Human Rights Israel medical records. A former inmate told Haaretz he was shot at close range in April and denied adequate care for 15 days. 1 2

Mixed · 2Accounts describe shootings in cells, prison yards, wings and lawyer-waiting areas, with injuries to legs, abdomen, pelvis and hands. In two cases prisoners said they were shot during a protest over untreated scabies (with a Taser also used) and during a panic attack. 1 2 Mixed · 2The groups wrote to the attorney general and senior prison service officials demanding an end to the "uncontrolled use of projectiles" and disclosure of the weapons, ammunition and rules governing their use, arguing the shootings breach regulations requiring proportionate force as a last resort. Anadolu says they made a similar call in August. 2 1 Mixed · 2The Israel Prison Service rejected a ban, saying its use of "less-lethal" means is measured, proportionate and based on operational need and threat assessments. It declined to disclose the weapons, ammunition or rules, citing security. 2 1

Mixed · 2Muhannad Abu Ghosh of Physicians for Human Rights Israel called the trend an "unprecedented escalation"; Merav Ben-Zeev of the Public Committee Against Torture said prisoners fear retaliation, complaints have not led to prosecutions, and the group is considering further action. 2 1 Centre · 1Anadolu adds that about 9,350 Palestinians, including 350 children and 90 women, are held in Israeli prisons, where rights groups have reported torture, starvation and medical neglect. 1