No Fewer Than 98 Palestinians Have Died in Custody Starting From October 2023, Israeli Data Shows
According to information released by Israel, no fewer than 98 Palestinians have perished during detention starting from October 2023. An advocacy organization based in Israel has indicated that the real number is probably significantly larger, as a result of many of missing detainees originating in Gaza.
Study Results
An updated study documented deaths attributed to brutality, failure to provide medical care, and malnutrition. Analysts used official data requests, autopsy findings, and discussions with attorneys, advocates, family members, and eyewitnesses.
Government bodies provided comprehensive statistics only for the initial 240 days of the hostilities. Over this period, official figures show an unprecedented death toll among Palestinian prisoners, averaging a single fatality each 96 hours.
Recent Figures
The military last updated information on detention fatalities for May 2024, and correctional authorities in September 2024. Researchers documented another 35 casualties in confinement following these periods and validated them with official sources.
Despite the total number of deaths charted being much greater than previous assessments, it probably does not reflect the entire scope of Palestinian loss, per the leader of the detainee affairs unit.
“While we are providing evidence for a larger total of casualties than previously reported, this is not the entire story,” he explained. “We are certain that there are yet detainees who perished in custody that we have not identified.”
Civilian Casualties
Restricted official information indicates that the majority of incarcerated Palestinians from Gaza who perished in detention were ordinary citizens, based on a simultaneous investigation.
In May of this year, a armed services record following all fighters in Gaza, a list of over 47,000 identified persons, recorded only 21 casualties in detention. By that date, 65 Palestinians from Gaza had lost their lives in prison.
Prison Situation
Brutality, mistreatment, and additional maltreatment of Palestinians has become routine across Israel’s prison network over two years of war. Top government figures have publicly acknowledged inadequate food and an below-ground detention center detaining detainees who are kept in darkness.
Present and past detainees and insiders from the armed services have collectively claimed systemic violations of international law.
Organized Maltreatment
The organized mistreatment occurred alongside a disturbing rise in fatalities registered across a minimum of 12 civilian and military facilities in Israel. Over ten years prior to the conflict, there were typically a couple fatalities a year.
“This does not represent just an individual case occasionally. It is systemic and it is expected to endure,” a representative said, partly because there is a environment of almost complete immunity for fatalities and maltreatment of detainees.
Merely one incident of assaulting detainees has reached litigation, with the soldier sentenced to 210 days. An attempt to try others over a brutal attack involving abuse resulted in right-wing protests and the apprehension of Israel’s chief legal officer, with the suspects now demanding that charges against them be withdrawn.
Absence of Consequences
“In spite of this significant total of fatalities, during 24 months not one individual has been detained,” the spokesperson stated. “There are no charges over any death.
“During the time these policies are being applied, each Palestinian individual in detention is in danger, including the those in good health, including the juveniles who have no medical issues.”
Prominent Examples
Some deaths in confinement have been publicly known, including a 50-year-old healthcare leader who perished in prison after four months in confinement.
A prisoner held with the victim testified that he was led to the yard by guards just prior to his death, clearly wounded and unclothed from the hips downward. His body has not been repatriated to Gaza.
Other prisoners who lost their lives in detention in Israel are unidentified. Correctional authorities and armed services provided investigators with the figure of casualties in detention, and limited other details including the facility where they perished, but excluding the prisoners’ names.
Identification Challenges
Regarding 21 occurrences, primarily people from Gaza, analysts were unable to match the limited information supplied by officials to a fatality documented by rights organisations, by means of statements from freed prisoners or coverage in the news outlets.
The inmates’ next of kin may not know about their relatives’ casualties as well, as Israel has impeded efforts to monitor detainees it is holding. During 210 days at the outset of the hostilities, the Israeli military would not provide to provide essential data about the whereabouts of numerous of people confined in Gaza, in effect implementing a practice of forced disappearance, according to the advocacy organization.
Limited Transparency
From May 2024, authorities have created an digital correspondence for inquiries about Palestinian individuals from Gaza, but this has provided only a modest and inadequate improvement. Investigators noted|observed|commented on
