🔗 Share this article

According to figures from Israel, at least 98 Palestinian individuals have lost their lives while in custody beginning in October 2023. A human rights group operating from Israel has stated that the true figure is likely significantly higher, as a result of many of unaccounted for detainees originating in Gaza.

Investigation Outcomes

A new investigation documented deaths caused by physical violence, failure to provide medical care, and inadequate nutrition. Analysts used transparency petitions, medical examiner documents, and testimonies with lawyers, advocates, relatives, and witnesses.

Israeli authorities released detailed information only for the opening period of the hostilities. Throughout these months, official figures reveal an historically high fatality rate among detained Palestinians, equating to a single fatality every four days.

Updated Statistics

Official armed forces last updated data on deaths in detention for May 2024, and detention administration during September 2024. Analysts documented another 35 fatalities in confinement following these dates and confirmed them with Israeli authorities.

Despite the overall count of casualties charted being much greater than previous assessments, it likely omits the entire scope of Palestinian loss, as stated by the leader of the detainee affairs unit.

“Although we are providing evidence for a higher number of deaths than earlier indicated, this is not the entire story,” he explained. “We are confident that there are yet individuals who died in custody that we don’t know about.”

Civilian Casualties

Classified Israeli data suggests that the largest portion of Palestinian detainees from Gaza who perished in prison were ordinary citizens, according to a related investigation.

In May of the current year, a defense forces registry following all combatants in Gaza, a roster of over 47,000 identified persons, documented merely 21 casualties in detention. By that date, 65 individuals from Palestine from Gaza had lost their lives in prison.

Detention Conditions

Physical violence, abuse, and other abuse of Palestinians is now standard practice across Israel’s detention facilities during two years of hostilities. Top government figures have publicly acknowledged starvation rations and an subterranean prison confining Palestinians who never see daylight.

Existing and previous inmates and whistleblowers from the armed services have collectively claimed routine infractions of international law.

Organized Maltreatment

The systematic abuse occurred alongside a alarming increase in casualties registered across at least 12 prison sites in Israel. Over ten years prior to the conflict, there were typically two or three deaths a year.

“This is not merely an isolated incident occasionally. It is widespread and it is expected to endure,” an official said, partially due to the fact there is a climate of virtual exemption from consequences for fatalities and maltreatment of Palestinians.

Just one case of attacking prisoners has proceeded to court, with the military personnel handed a punishment to seven months. An attempt to prosecute other suspects over a brutal attack including assault led to right-wing protests and the detention of Israel’s top military lawyer, with the suspects now insisting that indictments against them be dismissed.

No Legal Action

“In spite of this significant total of deaths, throughout the conflict no one has been arrested,” the spokesperson stated. “There have been no charges over any fatality.

“During the time these policies are being applied, each Palestinian individual in custody is in danger, also the physically well individuals, even the young ones who have no health problems.”

Notable Incidents

Certain fatalities in confinement have been high profile, including a senior medical chief who lost his life in prison after 120 days in custody.

A detainee incarcerated with the individual stated that he was led to the yard by prison staff just prior to his passing, visibly injured and naked from the waist down. His remains has not been returned to Gaza.

Further inmates who perished in Israeli custody stay unnamed. Detention administrators and armed services gave investigators with the number of casualties in custody, and basic other details including the site where they perished, but not the prisoners’ names.

Identification Challenges

For 21 instances, mainly people from Gaza, analysts were not able to correlate the limited information provided by authorities to a casualty recorded by rights organisations, via statements from released detainees or coverage in the press.

The detainees’ families might not have learned about their relatives’ casualties either, as Israel has made it difficult to locate Palestinian individuals it is confining. For seven months at the start of the conflict, the armed services declined to provide fundamental details about the whereabouts of thousands of people confined in Gaza, effectively enacting a practice of unacknowledged detention, per the advocacy organization.

Insufficient Disclosure

Starting in May 2024, officials have created an electronic contact for requests about Palestinians from Gaza, but this has provided only a incomplete and restricted improvement. Investigators noted|observed|commented on