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Based on figures released by Israel, at least 98 Palestinian individuals have died while in custody starting from October 2023. A rights monitoring body based in Israel has indicated that the true number is probably considerably greater, due to many of unaccounted for individuals originating in Gaza.

Report Findings

An updated study tracked fatalities resulting from physical violence, lack of healthcare, and malnutrition. Investigators utilized transparency petitions, medical examiner documents, and testimonies with lawyers, human rights defenders, next of kin, and eyewitnesses.

Official sources disclosed complete statistics limited to the first eight months of the conflict. Throughout these months, official figures indicate an unprecedented casualty rate among Palestinian detainees, averaging one death once every four-day period.

Latest Data

Israeli defense forces last updated data on detention fatalities for May 2024, and the prison service during September 2024. Investigators identified another 35 casualties in confinement after these periods and confirmed them with official sources.

Even with the total number of fatalities recorded being substantially larger than other recent estimates, it likely does not reflect the complete extent of losses among Palestinians, as stated by the head of the prisoners and detainees department.

“Although we are providing evidence for a higher number of deaths than earlier indicated, this is not a full picture,” he explained. “We are certain that there are yet individuals who died in custody that we have not identified.”

Non-Combatant Fatalities

Classified official information suggests that the vast majority of Palestinian prisoners from Gaza who died in prison were ordinary citizens, based on a simultaneous inquiry.

In May of the current year, a armed services record monitoring all combatants in Gaza, a list of over 47,000 listed people, documented only 21 casualties in confinement. At that time, 65 Palestinians from Gaza had died in prison.

Detention Conditions

Brutality, mistreatment, and further cruelty of Palestinians is now standard practice across Israel’s detention facilities throughout two years of hostilities. High-ranking authorities have publicly acknowledged minimal sustenance and an underground jail detaining Palestinians who never see daylight.

Existing and previous detainees and insiders from the armed services have all alleged widespread breaches of international law.

Systemic Abuse

The organized mistreatment was accompanied by a alarming increase in casualties registered across no fewer than 12 detention centers in Israel. Over ten years prior to the war, there were typically several deaths a year.

“This is not only a single occurrence occasionally. It is systemic and it will continue,” a representative commented, in part because there is a environment of near total impunity for fatalities and maltreatment of Palestinians.

Only a single instance of attacking prisoners has proceeded to court, with the service member handed a punishment to 210 days. A endeavor to charge other suspects over a brutal attack including abuse led to political demonstrations and the arrest of Israel’s senior defense attorney, with the alleged perpetrators now demanding that charges against them be withdrawn.

Lack of Accountability

“In spite of this large quantity of casualties, during 24 months no one has faced arrest,” the representative stated. “There exist no prosecutions over any killing.

“During the time these measures remain in effect, every Palestinian in custody is at peril, also the physically well individuals, including the youth who have no health problems.”

Prominent Examples

Certain fatalities in confinement have been high profile, such as a 50-year-old healthcare leader who died in detention after 120 days in detention.

An inmate held with the deceased reported that he was taken to the courtyard by prison staff immediately preceding his death, obviously hurt and exposed from the waist down. His body has not been repatriated to Gaza.

Further inmates who lost their lives in detention in Israel remain anonymous. The prison service and military supplied analysts with the total of fatalities in custody, and minimal additional information such as the facility where they died, but not the detainees’ identities.

Documentation Problems

Regarding 21 occurrences, primarily detainees from Gaza, analysts were not able to connect the limited information provided by officials to a casualty recorded by human rights groups, by means of statements from released detainees or reporting in the news outlets.

The detainees’ families could be unaware about their loved ones’ deaths either, as Israel has impeded efforts to monitor Palestinian individuals it is detaining. During 210 days at the start of the conflict, the defense forces refused to provide fundamental details about the whereabouts of many of individuals detained in Gaza, effectively implementing a practice of involuntary missing persons, according to the rights monitoring body.

Limited Transparency

Starting in May 2024, authorities have provided an electronic contact for requests about detainees from Gaza, but this has provided only a partial and limited betterment. Investigators noted|observed|commented on