🔗 Share this article

Based on figures released by Israel, at least 98 detainees from Palestine have died while detained starting from October 2023. A human rights group based in Israel has stated that the real toll is probably significantly greater, due to hundreds of missing detainees originating in Gaza.

Report Findings

A recent report recorded fatalities caused by physical violence, medical neglect, and starvation. Investigators utilized transparency petitions, forensic reports, and discussions with attorneys, advocates, family members, and eyewitnesses.

Israeli authorities disclosed complete statistics limited to the first eight months of the conflict. Over this period, reported numbers indicate an record death toll among Palestinian prisoners, equating to a life lost once every four-day period.

Recent Figures

The military last updated data on custodial deaths for May 2024, and detention administration in September 2024. Investigators identified another 35 deaths in custody following these timeframes and validated them with government bodies.

Despite the total number of deaths recorded being substantially larger than other recent estimates, it probably fails to capture the complete extent of Palestinian casualties, per the head of the prisoner monitoring division.

“Even though we are providing evidence for a higher number of fatalities than once estimated, this is not a full picture,” he stated. “We are certain that there are yet detainees who lost their lives in detention that we are unaware of.”

Non-Combatant Fatalities

Restricted Israeli data indicates that the majority of incarcerated Palestinians from Gaza who died in jail were ordinary citizens, per a simultaneous inquiry.

In May of this year, a military intelligence database following all fighters in Gaza, a roster of more than 47,000 identified persons, documented merely 21 casualties in detention. By that date, 65 individuals from Palestine from Gaza had lost their lives in detention.

Detention Conditions

Physical violence, abuse, and other abuse of detainees from Palestine has become routine across Israel’s detention facilities throughout two years of hostilities. Senior officials have publicly referenced starvation rations and an subterranean prison detaining Palestinian individuals who are denied sunlight.

Current and former inmates and informants from the Israeli military have all alleged routine infractions of global standards.

Institutionalized Cruelty

The systematic abuse occurred alongside a disturbing rise in casualties documented across a minimum of 12 prison sites in Israel. Over ten years prior to the hostilities, there were on average a couple casualties a year.

“This does not represent merely an isolated incident sporadically. It is institutional and it will continue,” a representative stated, in part since there is a climate of almost complete immunity for harming and abusing Palestinian individuals.

Just one case of beating detainees has proceeded to court, with the military personnel handed a punishment to seven months. An attempt to charge other suspects over a severe beating featuring sexual violence resulted in public rallies and the detention of Israel’s top military lawyer, with the accused individuals now requesting that indictments against them be dismissed.

Absence of Consequences

“In spite of this mass number of fatalities, throughout the conflict not a single person has been arrested,” the spokesperson noted. “There have been no indictments over any death.

“As long as these policies remain in effect, every Palestinian in detention faces risk, including the healthy ones, even the youth who have no medical issues.”

High-Profile Cases

Several casualties in custody have been publicly known, including a senior healthcare leader who died in detention after four months in confinement.

A prisoner held with the deceased testified that he was led to the exercise area by prison staff immediately preceding his death, visibly injured and exposed from the waist down. His remains has not been repatriated to Gaza.

Further inmates who died in detention in Israel stay unnamed. The prison service and armed services gave analysts with the number of casualties in detention, and basic further data including the site where they lost their lives, but without the prisoners’ names.

Identification Challenges

Regarding 21 occurrences, primarily individuals from Gaza, researchers could not to correlate the minimal data provided by authorities to a casualty registered by human rights groups, either through testimony from former inmates or reporting in the news outlets.

The inmates’ next of kin might not have learned about their loved ones’ deaths as well, as Israel has created obstacles to locate Palestinian individuals it is detaining. For seven months at the beginning of the conflict, the Israeli military declined to provide essential data about the whereabouts of thousands of people confined in Gaza, effectively implementing a policy of forced disappearance, per the rights monitoring body.

Limited Transparency

From May 2024, authorities have provided an digital correspondence for inquiries about Palestinian individuals from Gaza, but this has resulted in merely a incomplete and restricted improvement. Researchers noted|observed|commented on