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Based on figures provided by Israel, a minimum of 98 Palestinians have lost their lives while in custody starting from October 2023. A human rights group based in Israel has stated that the true number is probably significantly larger, as a result of many of missing detainees originating in Gaza.

Study Results

A new investigation tracked fatalities attributed to assault, medical neglect, and malnutrition. Analysts employed freedom of information requests, autopsy findings, and testimonies with attorneys, human rights defenders, relatives, and witnesses.

Government bodies released complete information limited to the opening period of the hostilities. Over this period, official figures reveal an historically high casualty rate among Palestinian prisoners, equating to a single fatality once every four-day period.

Latest Data

The military most recently revised information on deaths in detention for May 2024, and correctional authorities during September 2024. Researchers identified a further 35 casualties in custody after these periods and verified them with Israeli authorities.

Even with the overall count of deaths recorded being significantly higher than earlier projections, it probably omits the entire scope of Palestinian loss, per the leader of the detainee affairs unit.

“Although we are providing evidence for a greater figure of fatalities than once estimated, this is not a full picture,” he stated. “We are confident that there are yet individuals who died in detention that we have not identified.”

Non-Combatant Fatalities

Confidential Israeli data indicates that the majority of Palestinian prisoners from Gaza who lost their lives in jail were civilians, per a simultaneous investigation.

During May of 2024, a defense forces registry tracking all fighters in Gaza, a roster of more than 47,000 named individuals, documented just 21 casualties in confinement. At that time, 65 Palestinians from Gaza had lost their lives in prison.

Prison Situation

Assault, mistreatment, and additional maltreatment of Palestinians has been normalised across Israel’s detention facilities throughout two years of conflict. High-ranking authorities have publicly acknowledged minimal sustenance and an below-ground detention center holding detainees who are kept in darkness.

Existing and previous prisoners and whistleblowers from the Israeli military have collectively claimed widespread breaches of international law.

Organized Maltreatment

The systematic abuse was accompanied by a disturbing rise in fatalities registered across at least 12 civilian and military facilities in Israel. During the previous decade prior to the conflict, there were on average a couple deaths a year.

“This does not represent merely an isolated incident here and there. It is institutional and it is expected to endure,” a spokesperson commented, in part since there is a climate of virtual exemption from consequences for fatalities and maltreatment of detainees.

Only a single instance of beating detainees has proceeded to court, with the soldier sentenced to half a year. A endeavor to try others over a brutal attack including assault resulted in public rallies and the detention of Israel’s chief legal officer, with the alleged perpetrators now requesting that charges against them be dismissed.

Absence of Consequences

“Regardless of this large quantity of fatalities, over two years not a single person has faced arrest,” the representative noted. “There have been no charges over any killing.

“As long as these practices remain in effect, each Palestinian individual in confinement faces risk, also the physically well individuals, even the youth who have no medical issues.”

Prominent Examples

Some deaths in custody have been widely reported, for instance a 50-year-old healthcare leader who perished in confinement after four months in confinement.

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

Other prisoners who perished in Israeli custody stay unnamed. Detention administrators and defense forces gave researchers with the figure of casualties in detention, and minimal additional information such as the site where they died, but excluding the prisoners’ names.

Identification Challenges

In 21 cases, primarily individuals from Gaza, analysts were not able to connect the limited information provided by officials to a death registered by rights organisations, by means of accounts from former inmates or coverage in the media.

The prisoners’ relatives could be unaware about their family members’ fatalities also, as Israel has made it difficult to track Palestinians it is confining. For seven months at the outset of the war, the armed services refused to provide fundamental details about the whereabouts of thousands of individuals detained in Gaza, in effect enacting a approach of forced disappearance, as stated by the human rights group.

Insufficient Disclosure

Beginning last May, authorities have established an electronic contact for inquiries about detainees from Gaza, but this has led to just a incomplete and restricted enhancement. Analysts noted|observed|commented on