🔗 Share this article

Per data provided by Israel, a minimum of 98 detainees from Palestine have perished while detained since October 2023. A human rights group operating from Israel has stated that the real figure is almost certainly significantly larger, as a result of many of unaccounted for individuals from Gaza.

Study Results

A recent report documented deaths resulting from brutality, medical neglect, and malnutrition. Investigators used freedom of information requests, autopsy findings, and discussions with lawyers, advocates, family members, and observers.

Government bodies provided comprehensive statistics only for the opening period of the war. Throughout these months, official figures indicate an record fatality rate among detained Palestinians, amounting to a life lost once every four-day period.

Updated Statistics

Official armed forces last updated information on deaths in detention for May 2024, and the prison service during September 2024. Investigators documented a further 35 casualties in confinement following these periods and validated them with government bodies.

Despite the total number of casualties recorded being significantly higher than other recent estimates, it likely does not reflect the entire scope of losses among Palestinians, per the director of the detainee affairs unit.

“While we are presenting proof for a greater figure of deaths than once estimated, this is not the entire story,” he said. “We are sure that there are yet people who lost their lives in custody that we have not identified.”

Civilian Deaths

Restricted official information shows that the largest portion of incarcerated Palestinians from Gaza who died in jail were ordinary citizens, based on a related investigation.

During May of 2024, a armed services record tracking all fighters in Gaza, a roster of more than 47,000 named individuals, documented only 21 deaths in custody. By that point, 65 Palestinians from Gaza had died in jail.

Prison Situation

Physical violence, abuse, and other abuse of Palestinian individuals has become routine across Israel’s detention facilities during the duration of conflict. Senior officials have openly admitted starvation rations and an below-ground detention center detaining detainees who never see daylight.

Current and former detainees and whistleblowers from the armed services have all alleged systemic violations of human rights protocols.

Institutionalized Cruelty

The organized mistreatment occurred alongside a alarming increase in deaths documented across at least 12 detention centers in Israel. During the previous decade preceding the conflict, there were typically several fatalities a year.

“This does not represent just an individual case occasionally. It is institutional and it will continue,” a representative commented, in part since there is a environment of near total impunity for harming and abusing Palestinians.

Only a single instance of attacking inmates has reached litigation, with the service member given a penalty to seven months. An effort to try other suspects over a brutal attack involving abuse led to political demonstrations and the arrest of Israel’s chief legal officer, with the accused individuals now insisting that allegations against them be withdrawn.

Absence of Consequences

“Regardless of this significant total of casualties, throughout the conflict not a single person has been arrested,” the official said. “There exist no prosecutions over any killing.

“During the time these practices remain in effect, all Palestinian detainees in detention is in danger, also the healthy ones, even the juveniles who have no health problems.”

Notable Incidents

Some deaths in custody have been publicly known, such as a middle-aged healthcare leader who lost his life in prison after 120 days in custody.

A detainee incarcerated with the deceased stated that he was brought to the yard by guards shortly before his death, visibly injured and unclothed from the waist down. His remains has not been repatriated to Gaza.

Additional detainees who lost their lives in Israeli custody stay unnamed. The prison service and armed services gave investigators with the figure of fatalities in detention, and minimal additional information including the facility where they died, but excluding the inmates’ personal details.

Recognition Difficulties

Regarding 21 occurrences, mostly individuals from Gaza, investigators were not able to connect the minimal data provided by government bodies to a casualty recorded by human rights groups, either through statements from freed prisoners or accounts in the media.

The detainees’ families may not know about their loved ones’ deaths also, as Israel has made it difficult to track detainees it is confining. During 210 days at the beginning of the war, the Israeli military declined to supply essential data about the status of many of individuals detained in Gaza, effectively enacting a approach of involuntary missing persons, according to the human rights group.

Limited Transparency

Beginning last May, government bodies have provided an electronic contact for enquiries about Palestinian individuals from Gaza, but this has provided only a incomplete and restricted improvement. Investigators noted|observed|commented on