Mass detentions in the Gaza war

Since the outbreak of the Gaza war on October 7, 2023, Israel has carried out mass arrests and detentions of Palestinians. Thousands have been arrested in the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories and in Israel, based on alleged militant activity, offensive social media postings, or arbitrarily.

News outlets and human rights organizations both within and outside of Israel reported that thousands of Gazan workers in Israel were detained in the weeks following October 7. Additionally, Israel has detained or enforced disappearance of residents of the Gaza Strip, arrested Palestinians in the West Bank and Arab citizens of Israel, and detained fighters captured inside Israel. Concerns have been raised regarding the legality, secrecy, and conditions of many detentions, including allegations of widespread mistreatment, torture, and sexual assault.

On 3 November 2023, Israel deported 3,200 Gazan Palestinian workers who were detained in Israel following the October 7 attacks to the Gaza Strip. In addition to Palestinian prisoners in custody prior to the outbreak of the war, an unknown number of individuals remain in detention. Those arrested or detained include journalists, politicians and political activists, artists, medics and physicians, temporary workers, and other civilians, including women and children. As of April, 2025, nearly 10,000 prisoners were held in Israeli custody. Prisoners' organizations in Palestine report that approximately 18,000 Palestinians were arrested in the West Bank between October 7, 2023 and August, 2025.

Images of a mass arrest by Israeli soldiers in Gaza circulated widely during the war, showing men and boys with no known organizational affiliations stripped to their underwear, tied up, and blindfolded. After the images began to circulate, Israeli authorities and media described the scene as the surrender of 150 suspected Hamas militants in Khan Younis. Analysts questioned the authenticity of the purported surrender, suggesting that it may have been staged by Israeli forces. Security officials later acknowledged that the scene was not a mass surrender of Hamas militants. Human rights groups have expressed concern about the images and the detentions.