A Minimum of 98 Palestinian Detainees Have Died in Israeli Custody Since October 2023, Israeli Data Shows
Based on figures from Israel, a minimum of 98 Palestinians have died while in custody beginning in October 2023. A rights monitoring body located in Israel has reported that the true number is probably significantly larger, because of numerous of disappeared detainees from Gaza.
Report Findings
A new investigation documented deaths caused by physical violence, medical neglect, and starvation. Analysts used freedom of information requests, autopsy findings, and testimonies with attorneys, human rights defenders, relatives, and eyewitnesses.
Official sources disclosed detailed statistics solely covering the first eight months of the conflict. During this time, official figures show an unprecedented fatality rate among Palestinian prisoners, averaging one death once every four-day period.
Latest Data
Official armed forces finalized records on detention fatalities for May 2024, and correctional authorities by September 2024. Investigators documented another 35 deaths in custody after these dates and validated them with Israeli authorities.
Even with the overall count of deaths documented being significantly higher than previous assessments, it almost certainly fails to capture the complete extent of losses among Palestinians, per the head of the detainee affairs unit.
“Even though we are providing evidence for a larger total of fatalities than previously reported, this is not the entire story,” he explained. “We are sure that there are yet people who perished in detention that we don’t know about.”
Non-Combatant Fatalities
Classified Israeli data shows that the majority of incarcerated Palestinians from Gaza who perished in jail were non-combatants, per a related inquiry.
By May of the current year, a military intelligence database tracking all fighters in Gaza, a roster of more than 47,000 identified persons, listed merely 21 fatalities in confinement. By that point, 65 individuals from Palestine from Gaza had perished in jail.
Custodial Environment
Assault, abuse, and additional maltreatment of Palestinians has been normalised across Israel’s prison network during two years of hostilities. Top government figures have openly admitted minimal sustenance and an subterranean prison holding Palestinians who are kept in darkness.
Present and past inmates and informants from the defense forces have uniformly asserted widespread breaches of human rights protocols.
Systemic Abuse
The systematic abuse occurred alongside a disturbing rise in deaths recorded across no fewer than 12 prison sites in Israel. Over ten years preceding the hostilities, there were on average two or three casualties a year.
“This isn’t merely an isolated incident sporadically. It is systemic and it is likely to persist,” a spokesperson stated, in part due to the fact there is a environment of near total impunity for harming and abusing Palestinians.
Just one case of assaulting inmates has reached litigation, with the soldier sentenced to seven months. A endeavor to charge other suspects over a vicious assault including sexual violence led to right-wing protests and the arrest of Israel’s senior defense attorney, with the alleged perpetrators now demanding that allegations against them be withdrawn.
Absence of Consequences
“Regardless of this mass number of casualties, during 24 months not a single person has faced arrest,” the spokesperson noted. “There have been no prosecutions over any killing.
“During the time these policies remain in effect, each Palestinian individual in detention is in danger, including the physically well individuals, also the young ones who have no health problems.”
High-Profile Cases
Certain fatalities in confinement have been widely reported, such as a 50-year-old healthcare leader who died in detention after 120 days in detention.
An inmate detained alongside the deceased testified that he was brought to the courtyard by correctional officers just prior to his passing, clearly wounded and naked from the waist down. His remains remains unreleased to Gaza.
Other prisoners who lost their lives in Israeli custody are unidentified. Correctional authorities and defense forces supplied investigators with the figure of casualties in detention, and limited other details such as the facility where they died, but without the inmates’ personal details.
Documentation Problems
Regarding 21 occurrences, mainly detainees from Gaza, researchers were not able to connect the limited information supplied by officials to a fatality recorded by human rights groups, via statements from released detainees or accounts in the media.
The inmates’ next of kin may not know about their relatives’ casualties either, as Israel has created obstacles to track detainees it is confining. For seven months at the start of the hostilities, the defense forces would not provide to give basic information about the whereabouts of many of individuals confined in Gaza, practically implementing a policy of involuntary missing persons, as stated by the rights monitoring body.
Insufficient Disclosure
Starting in May 2024, officials have provided an electronic contact for enquiries about Palestinians from Gaza, but this has led to just a partial and limited enhancement. Researchers noted|observed|commented on
