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Per data from Israel, at least 98 detainees from Palestine have died while in custody starting from October 2023. An advocacy organization based in Israel has indicated that the actual figure is likely substantially higher, due to hundreds of unaccounted for detainees originating in Gaza.

Report Findings

A recent report tracked deaths caused by assault, lack of healthcare, and inadequate nutrition. Investigators employed freedom of information requests, autopsy findings, and discussions with attorneys, human rights defenders, family members, and eyewitnesses.

Official sources released complete information limited to the first eight months of the conflict. During this time, official figures indicate an record casualty rate among Palestinian prisoners, equating to a life lost each 96 hours.

Recent Figures

Israeli defense forces last updated records on detention fatalities for May 2024, and correctional authorities during September 2024. Researchers identified an additional 35 deaths in custody following these periods and verified them with official sources.

Even with the aggregate figure of deaths documented being much greater than other recent estimates, it almost certainly does not reflect the full scale of Palestinian loss, per the leader of the prisoners and detainees department.

“Even though we are offering documentation for a larger total of casualties than once estimated, this is not the entire story,” he said. “We are sure that there are still detainees who perished in custody that we don’t know about.”

Civilian Casualties

Restricted government records shows that the majority of incarcerated Palestinians from Gaza who died in prison were non-combatants, per a simultaneous inquiry.

By May of this year, a defense forces registry tracking all combatants in Gaza, a roster of more than 47,000 listed people, listed merely 21 casualties in confinement. By that date, 65 Gazans from Gaza had lost their lives in jail.

Prison Situation

Assault, torture, and additional maltreatment of detainees from Palestine has been normalised across Israel’s prison network over the duration of conflict. High-ranking authorities have openly admitted minimal sustenance and an underground jail confining Palestinians who are kept in darkness.

Current and former prisoners and whistleblowers from the armed services have all alleged routine infractions of global standards.

Systemic Abuse

The institutionalised cruelty was accompanied by a troubling surge in deaths recorded across at least 12 detention centers in Israel. Over ten years prior to the war, there were usually a couple deaths a year.

“This is not merely an isolated incident occasionally. It is institutional and it is expected to endure,” an official said, partially due to the fact there is a environment of virtual exemption from consequences for killing and mistreating detainees.

Just one case of beating prisoners has proceeded to court, with the soldier sentenced to 210 days. An effort to charge other suspects over a brutal attack including sexual violence resulted in public rallies and the apprehension of Israel’s senior defense attorney, with the accused individuals now insisting that charges against them are dropped.

Lack of Accountability

“Despite this significant total of casualties, during 24 months not one individual has faced arrest,” the representative stated. “There have been no charges over any fatality.

“During the time these policies remain in effect, all Palestinian detainees in detention faces risk, also the healthy ones, also the young ones who have no underlying conditions.”

Prominent Examples

Several casualties in custody have been high profile, for instance a senior hospital director who lost his life in confinement after 120 days in custody.

A detainee detained alongside the victim stated that he was led to the courtyard by prison staff just prior to his demise, visibly injured and naked from the hips downward. His remains has not been returned to Gaza.

Additional detainees who perished in detention in Israel remain anonymous. The prison service and military gave investigators with the figure of casualties in custody, and minimal additional information for example the facility where they perished, but not the detainees’ identities.

Documentation Problems

For 21 instances, mostly people from Gaza, analysts could not to match the minimal data provided by officials to a fatality documented by human rights groups, via testimony from freed prisoners or reporting in the media.

The detainees’ families could be unaware about their loved ones’ deaths either, as Israel has impeded efforts to locate Palestinians it is detaining. During 210 days at the beginning of the conflict, the defense forces declined to provide basic information about the condition of thousands of individuals confined in Gaza, in effect enacting a policy of unacknowledged detention, according to the human rights group.

Limited Transparency

From May 2024, authorities have created an electronic contact for requests about Palestinian individuals from Gaza, but this has led to just a partial and limited betterment. Researchers noted|observed|commented on