At Least 98 Palestinian Detainees Have Perished in Custody Since October 2023, Statistics from Israel Shows
According to figures from Israel, at least 98 detainees from Palestine have perished while in custody starting from October 2023. A rights monitoring body operating from Israel has stated that the true number is probably considerably greater, because of numerous of unaccounted for individuals in Gaza.
Report Findings
A new investigation documented deaths caused by brutality, medical neglect, and starvation. Investigators employed transparency petitions, forensic reports, and testimonies with lawyers, advocates, family members, and witnesses.
Israeli authorities provided complete information solely covering the opening period of the war. Throughout these months, reported numbers indicate an historically high casualty rate among Palestinian prisoners, equating to a life lost every four days.
Updated Statistics
The military finalized data on deaths in detention for May 2024, and the prison service by September 2024. Researchers documented an additional 35 deaths in confinement after these timeframes and validated them with government bodies.
Although the overall count of fatalities charted being substantially larger than earlier projections, it likely does not reflect the full scale of losses among Palestinians, according to the head of the prisoners and detainees department.
“Although we are presenting proof for a greater figure of deaths than earlier indicated, this is not the entire story,” he said. “We are confident that there are yet people who perished in detention that we don’t know about.”
Non-Combatant Fatalities
Restricted Israeli data suggests that the largest portion of Palestinian prisoners from Gaza who perished in prison were ordinary citizens, per a simultaneous inquiry.
During May of 2024, a defense forces registry monitoring all fighters in Gaza, a list of more than 47,000 named individuals, recorded only 21 fatalities in detention. By that date, 65 Palestinians from Gaza had lost their lives in detention.
Prison Situation
Physical violence, torture, and further cruelty of Palestinian individuals has been normalised across Israel’s detention facilities throughout 24 months of conflict. Top government figures have openly admitted minimal sustenance and an subterranean prison detaining Palestinians who are denied sunlight.
Current and former prisoners and insiders from the Israeli military have uniformly asserted systemic violations of international law.
Institutionalized Cruelty
The institutionalised cruelty occurred alongside a troubling surge in fatalities documented across no fewer than 12 prison sites in Israel. Over ten years prior to the conflict, there were typically several casualties a year.
“This is not just an individual case occasionally. It is systemic and it is likely to persist,” an official said, partly because there is a climate of near total impunity for killing and mistreating Palestinian individuals.
Merely one incident of beating detainees has reached litigation, with the military personnel given a penalty to seven months. A endeavor to try additional individuals over a brutal attack featuring abuse resulted in right-wing protests and the apprehension of Israel’s chief legal officer, with the accused individuals now requesting that indictments against them be dismissed.
No Legal Action
“Despite this mass number of casualties, over two years not a single person has been detained,” the representative stated. “There exist no indictments over any killing.
“During the time these practices remain in effect, each Palestinian individual in custody is in danger, even the those in good health, including the juveniles who have no underlying conditions.”
Prominent Examples
Some deaths in detention have been widely reported, for instance a senior healthcare leader who died in detention after 120 days in confinement.
An inmate detained alongside the individual reported that he was brought to the courtyard by prison staff shortly before his demise, visibly injured and naked from the hips downward. His corpse remains unreleased to Gaza.
Further inmates who perished in confinement by Israeli authorities remain anonymous. Correctional authorities and armed services provided investigators with the figure of deaths in detention, and basic additional information for example the facility where they died, but not the detainees’ identities.
Documentation Problems
Regarding 21 occurrences, mainly detainees from Gaza, investigators could not to match the few details supplied by authorities to a death recorded by rights organisations, via accounts from former inmates or accounts in the media.
The prisoners’ relatives could be unaware about their loved ones’ deaths either, as Israel has created obstacles to track Palestinians it is holding. During 210 days at the start of the conflict, the defense forces would not provide to supply basic information about the condition of many of individuals confined in Gaza, in effect enacting a practice of involuntary missing persons, per the human rights group.
Limited Transparency
From May 2024, officials have provided an electronic contact for inquiries about Palestinians from Gaza, but this has provided only a partial and limited improvement. Investigators noted|observed|commented on
