🔗 Share this article

Per information provided by Israel, no fewer than 98 detainees from Palestine have perished while detained starting from October 2023. An advocacy organization operating from Israel has indicated that the true figure is likely substantially larger, because of many of disappeared individuals originating in Gaza.

Investigation Outcomes

An updated study documented deaths resulting from physical violence, lack of healthcare, and malnutrition. Analysts used freedom of information requests, forensic reports, and discussions with attorneys, advocates, family members, and witnesses.

Israeli authorities disclosed comprehensive data only for the opening period of the conflict. During this time, official figures indicate an unprecedented fatality rate among detained Palestinians, equating to one death once every four-day period.

Latest Data

Official armed forces finalized information on deaths in detention for May 2024, and the prison service during September 2024. Analysts identified a further 35 casualties in confinement subsequent to these periods and validated them with Israeli authorities.

Despite the aggregate figure of casualties documented being significantly higher than previous assessments, it probably fails to capture the complete extent of losses among Palestinians, per the head of the detainee affairs unit.

“While we are presenting proof for a greater figure of casualties than earlier indicated, this is not a full picture,” he stated. “We are sure that there are yet individuals who lost their lives in detention that we don’t know about.”

Non-Combatant Fatalities

Classified official information indicates that the largest portion of Palestinian detainees from Gaza who died in detention were non-combatants, per a parallel examination.

By May of 2024, a defense forces registry tracking all fighters in Gaza, a list of over 47,000 named individuals, listed merely 21 deaths in confinement. By that point, 65 individuals from Palestine from Gaza had lost their lives in jail.

Detention Conditions

Physical violence, torture, and additional maltreatment of Palestinians has become routine across Israel’s detention facilities over two years of conflict. High-ranking authorities have openly admitted minimal sustenance and an below-ground detention center holding Palestinians who are kept in darkness.

Current and former inmates and whistleblowers from the defense forces have collectively claimed widespread breaches of international law.

Organized Maltreatment

The organized mistreatment occurred alongside a troubling surge in deaths registered across a minimum of 12 detention centers in Israel. Over ten years prior to the conflict, there were typically two or three fatalities a year.

“This is not only a single occurrence here and there. It is widespread and it is expected to endure,” a representative commented, partly since there is a climate of near total impunity for fatalities and maltreatment of Palestinian individuals.

Only a single instance of attacking prisoners has come to trial, with the military personnel sentenced to 210 days. An effort to try others over a brutal attack including assault resulted in right-wing protests and the apprehension of Israel’s senior defense attorney, with the accused individuals now insisting that indictments against them be dismissed.

Lack of Accountability

“Regardless of this mass number of casualties, throughout the conflict no one has been arrested,” the representative noted. “There exist no prosecutions over any killing.

“As long as these policies remain in effect, each Palestinian individual in detention is in danger, also the physically well individuals, even the youth who have no underlying conditions.”

Prominent Examples

Some deaths in custody have been widely reported, including a 50-year-old hospital director who died in confinement after a third of a year in custody.

An inmate detained alongside the deceased testified that he was taken to the exercise area by correctional officers shortly before his death, obviously hurt and unclothed from the lower body. His body has not been returned to Gaza.

Other prisoners who perished in Israeli custody stay unnamed. Detention administrators and armed services gave analysts with the number of casualties in custody, and minimal additional information including the site where they died, but not the inmates’ personal details.

Identification Challenges

Regarding 21 occurrences, mainly detainees from Gaza, investigators were not able to connect the minimal data supplied by government bodies to a fatality recorded by rights organisations, either through statements from former inmates or coverage in the media.

The inmates’ next of kin could be unaware about their loved ones’ deaths also, as Israel has made it difficult to monitor detainees it is holding. Over half a year at the beginning of the hostilities, the defense forces would not provide to give basic information about the condition of thousands of people confined in Gaza, effectively enacting a practice of unacknowledged detention, according to the advocacy organization.

Insufficient Disclosure

Starting in May 2024, officials have established an electronic contact for requests about Palestinians from Gaza, but this has led to just a modest and inadequate enhancement. Researchers noted|observed|commented on