🔗 Share this article

Per data provided by Israel, at least 98 detainees from Palestine have lost their lives during detention starting from October 2023. An advocacy organization operating from Israel has stated that the true figure is almost certainly considerably higher, because of hundreds of unaccounted for detainees from Gaza.

Report Findings

An updated study documented deaths attributed to physical violence, medical neglect, and starvation. Analysts used transparency petitions, medical examiner documents, and discussions with lawyers, advocates, next of kin, and observers.

Official sources provided detailed information only for the initial 240 days of the hostilities. Throughout these months, reported numbers show an unprecedented death toll among detained Palestinians, equating to one death each 96 hours.

Latest Data

Israeli defense forces finalized information on detention fatalities for May 2024, and the prison service during September 2024. Investigators discovered another 35 casualties in custody after these dates and confirmed them with official sources.

Even with the overall count of deaths recorded being much greater than previous assessments, it likely omits the complete extent of Palestinian casualties, as stated by the head of the detainee affairs unit.

“Even though we are presenting proof for a larger total of deaths than earlier indicated, this is an incomplete account,” he stated. “We are sure that there are yet people who died in custody that we are unaware of.”

Civilian Deaths

Classified Israeli data indicates that the majority of incarcerated Palestinians from Gaza who perished in detention were civilians, per a simultaneous investigation.

During May of this year, a armed services record monitoring all fighters in Gaza, a roster of over 47,000 listed people, documented only 21 casualties in custody. By that point, 65 Palestinians from Gaza had lost their lives in detention.

Custodial Environment

Physical violence, mistreatment, and additional maltreatment of Palestinians is now standard practice across Israel’s prison network throughout two years of conflict. Top government figures have openly admitted minimal sustenance and an subterranean prison confining detainees who never see daylight.

Existing and previous inmates and informants from the armed services have all alleged routine infractions of human rights protocols.

Institutionalized Cruelty

The institutionalised cruelty occurred alongside a troubling surge in deaths documented across a minimum of 12 detention centers in Israel. Over ten years preceding the war, there were usually several fatalities a year.

“This does not represent just an individual case sporadically. It is widespread and it is expected to endure,” an official stated, partially since there is a culture of almost complete immunity for fatalities and maltreatment of Palestinian individuals.

Merely one incident of attacking inmates has proceeded to court, with the service member sentenced to 210 days. A endeavor to try others over a vicious assault featuring sexual violence caused right-wing protests and the detention of Israel’s top military lawyer, with the accused individuals now demanding that charges against them are dropped.

Lack of Accountability

“Regardless of this mass number of fatalities, during 24 months not a single person has been arrested,” the official said. “There have been no indictments over any killing.

“As long as these measures are being applied, every Palestinian in confinement is in danger, including the healthy ones, including the juveniles who have no health problems.”

Notable Incidents

Several casualties in detention have been publicly known, for instance a senior healthcare leader who died in detention after 120 days in confinement.

A detainee held with the deceased reported that he was led to the courtyard by guards immediately preceding his passing, clearly wounded and exposed from the waist down. His corpse has not been returned to Gaza.

Additional detainees who lost their lives in detention in Israel stay unnamed. Detention administrators and military gave analysts with the number of deaths in confinement, and limited additional information including the facility where they died, but excluding the detainees’ identities.

Recognition Difficulties

For 21 instances, mainly individuals from Gaza, investigators were unable to match the few details supplied by government bodies to a casualty documented by human rights groups, by means of statements from freed prisoners or coverage in the press.

The detainees’ families could be unaware about their loved ones’ deaths as well, as Israel has created obstacles to monitor Palestinians it is holding. During 210 days at the start of the conflict, the armed services refused to give fundamental details about the status of many of persons held in Gaza, in effect enacting a approach of unacknowledged detention, as stated by the rights monitoring body.

Restricted Access

Beginning last May, authorities have established an email address for enquiries about Palestinian individuals from Gaza, but this has resulted in merely a incomplete and restricted improvement. Investigators noted|observed|commented on