On September 4, 2025, +972 Magazine, Local Call and The Guardian published an investigation based on a classified Israeli military intelligence database. The same day, Common Dreams summarized it under the headline:

"3 in 4 Gaza Detainees Held Without Trial by Israel Are Civilians, Military Database Says"

and opened: "The vast majority of the Palestinians being held in Israel's brutal detention centers are civilians." The underlying investigation's own headline was more precise: "Militants account for only 1 in 4 Gaza detainees."

In conversation the claim often broadens to "the majority of Palestinian prisoners are non-combatants" — which covers all Palestinian prisoners, not just Gaza detainees. Both versions are addressed below.

• About 1 in 4 Gaza detainees were listed as militants in the database. Of the roughly 6,000 Palestinians Israel arrested in Gaza in the first 19 months of the war and held under the Unlawful Combatants Law, the database (as of mid-May 2025) listed about 1,450 as members of the military wings of Hamas (~950) or Palestinian Islamic Jihad (~500). (+972 / Local Call / Guardian)
• Documented civilian detentions. The investigation cites individual cases, including an 82-year-old woman with Alzheimer's held for six weeks (the army called it "a local, isolated error in judgment"), and over 100 Gaza medical workers held. (+972)
• Israel itself released large numbers of Gaza detainees. +972 reports Israel released over 2,500 people it had classified as unlawful combatants, plus 1,050 in earlier exchanges. In the October 13, 2025 hostage deal, Israel released 1,968 Palestinians, most of them Gazans detained during the war; the AJC describes that group as detained after — but not involved in — the October 7 attack. (+972; Adnkronos citing the Israel Prison Service; AJC)
• Most Palestinian "security" prisoners have not been convicted. HaMoked's figures from Israel Prison Service data (January 2026):

That is roughly 86% not convicted and roughly half held with no charge at all. (HaMoked)

• "Not in the database" ≠ "civilian." The database covers only Hamas and Islamic Jihad military-wing members. It excludes members of other armed groups (which IPS reports put at under 2% of unlawful-combatant detainees), and up to ~300 people held on October 7-related criminal charges. The journalists received only numbers — not names or the intelligence behind them — and the database's completeness is itself uncertain. (+972)
• The IDF disputes it. The army at first did not dispute the numbers, then called them "wrong," said the claims "reflect a misunderstanding of the detention procedures in Israel," and stated that "most of those held under the unlawful combatants law are members of terrorist organizations." The Israel Prison Service has said in public reports that nearly all unlawful combatants are Hamas or Islamic Jihad members, without publishing evidence. (+972)
• "Not convicted" ≠ "non-combatant." Remand prisoners have been charged and are awaiting trial. Administrative detainees are held on secret evidence of an alleged security threat. Being unconvicted means guilt has not been proven — not that a person is a civilian. Nobody outside the Israeli security services can currently check either way.
• Scope. The "1 in 4" figure is about Gaza detainees in the first 19 months of the war. It says nothing about West Bank prisoners, who make up most of the ~9,000 Palestinians held on security grounds. (B'Tselem)

1. Awaiting trial (~3,300). Charged, with cases pending in military courts. Unconvicted, but not uncharged.

2. Administrative detention (~3,400, mostly West Bank). Held without charge on secret intelligence of a security threat, in renewable six-month orders. Examples:

• Mohammed al-Qeeq (journalist, 2015–16): the Shin Bet told Israel's Supreme Court it suspected "current military activity" in a terrorist organization; the evidence was secret, so his lawyer could not contest it. (Human Rights Watch)
• Social-media "incitement": detentions or charges based on Facebook posts — in one case 38 posts; in another, a 17-year-old held three months on secret evidence. (Addameer)

3. "Unlawful combatants" (Gaza). Men detained in combat zones or at crossing points and held for interrogation — to identify fighters (who often wear civilian clothes) and to gather intelligence, including on hostages and tunnels. The IDF says a short temporary order comes first, a permanent order requires judicial review, and more than 2,000 people were released when no militant link was found. (IDF rebuttal; +972)

4. Error and mistaken identity. e.g. a woman held 53 days after being confused with a Hamas member of the same name; an 82-year-old with Alzheimer's held six weeks, which the army called "a local, isolated error in judgment." (+972)

Are these reasonable grounds? International law allows a state to intern civilians for "imperative reasons of security," with periodic review — so screening and temporary detention of military-age men in a war zone where fighters wear civilian clothes has a recognized legal basis. Criticism focuses on how: long periods without access to a lawyer, secret evidence the detainee cannot answer, documented abuse in custody, and the leaked database suggesting most Gaza detainees were not listed as fighters. (Amnesty; +972; IDF)

• How many detainees are actually civilians. Israel does not publish the evidence behind detentions; the only data point is one leaked database that the IDF disputes.
• Whether the database is complete or accurate for any individual.
• Current numbers. Figures change monthly, and HaMoked and B'Tselem report different totals from the same Israel Prison Service source (e.g. B'Tselem: 9,128 security prisoners at the end of December 2025, 1,477 from Gaza). Human rights groups estimated about 1,200 Gazans still in custody in mid-2026. (B'Tselem; NPR)