Palestinian Prisoner’s Day: What happened in Palestine on April 17, 1971?

EXPLAINERNearly 10,000 men, women and children are held in Israeli prisons, a third without charge or trial.Published On 17 Apr 2026On April 17 each year, Palestinian Prisoner’s Day is commemorated to remember the plight of thousands of men, women and children held in Israeli prisons.This year’s remembrance is underscored by Israel’s new death penalty law, which solely targets Palestinians convicted of deadly attacks. Rights groups have called the measure a violation of international law and inherently discriminatory. The United Nations human rights chief called it a possible “war crime”.Nearly 10,000 Palestinians are now being held in Israeli prisons in Israel and in occupied territory, according to the prisoners’ rights group Addameer. To Palestinians, they are political prisoners who must be freed.Here’s what we know about Palestinian Prisoner’s Day and the situation facing Palestinians held in Israeli detention.What happened on April 17, 1971?April 17, 1971, was the date when Mahmoud Bakr Hejazi was released in the first prisoner exchange between Israel and Palestine.In 1974, the Palestinian National Council (PNC) officially designated April 17 as Palestinian Prisoner’s Day.Since then, it has served as a day of national and international solidarity, highlighting the Palestinian struggle against Israel’s continued occupation of Palestinian land.How many Palestinians are in Israeli custody?As of early April, more than 9,600 Palestinians were in Israeli custody. Of those in detention: 3,532 are administrative detainees – held without charge or trial. 342 are children. 84 are women. 119 are serving life sentences. Administrative detention is a longstanding Israeli policy to hold Palestinians – men, women and children – without charge or trial for six-month periods that may be renewed indefinitely.