No Fewer Than 98 Palestinians Have Died in Israeli Custody Since October 2023, Statistics from Israel Indicates
According to figures from Israel, a minimum of 98 detainees from Palestine have died while in custody since October 2023. A human rights group based in Israel has stated that the true figure is almost certainly significantly higher, as a result of hundreds of missing detainees originating in Gaza.
Report Findings
A new investigation tracked casualties attributed to physical violence, failure to provide medical care, and malnutrition. Analysts employed freedom of information requests, medical examiner documents, and discussions with lawyers, activists, relatives, and witnesses.
Official sources disclosed detailed data only for the first eight months of the hostilities. Throughout these months, official figures show an unprecedented fatality rate among Palestinian detainees, averaging a life lost once every four-day period.
Latest Data
The military finalized information on deaths in detention for May 2024, and the prison service in September 2024. Researchers discovered an additional 35 fatalities in detention after these periods and validated them with official sources.
Despite the total number of casualties charted being much greater than earlier projections, it almost certainly does not reflect the full scale of Palestinian casualties, according to the head of the prisoner monitoring division.
“While we are presenting proof for a larger total of casualties than earlier indicated, this is not a full picture,” he stated. “We are certain that there are yet individuals who perished in confinement that we don’t know about.”
Non-Combatant Fatalities
Classified government records indicates that the largest portion of incarcerated Palestinians from Gaza who died in prison were non-combatants, per a simultaneous examination.
By May of this year, a armed services record tracking all fighters in Gaza, a roster of over 47,000 identified persons, documented only 21 casualties in confinement. By that date, 65 Gazans from Gaza had lost their lives in detention.
Detention Conditions
Assault, torture, and further cruelty of detainees from Palestine is now standard practice across Israel’s jail system throughout the duration of hostilities. Senior officials have publicly acknowledged minimal sustenance and an underground jail holding Palestinian individuals who are kept in darkness.
Existing and previous prisoners and whistleblowers from the defense forces have all alleged routine infractions of international law.
Systemic Abuse
The systematic abuse was accompanied by a troubling surge in deaths registered across no fewer than 12 prison sites in Israel. Over ten years prior to the conflict, there were on average several fatalities a year.
“This is not merely an isolated incident occasionally. It is institutional and it is likely to persist,” a representative commented, in part because there is a climate of virtual exemption from consequences for fatalities and maltreatment of Palestinian individuals.
Just one case of assaulting prisoners has reached litigation, with the military personnel handed a punishment to half a year. An effort to prosecute other suspects over a severe beating featuring sexual violence resulted in public rallies and the arrest of Israel’s chief legal officer, with the suspects now requesting that allegations against them are dropped.
No Legal Action
“Regardless of this significant total of fatalities, during 24 months not one individual has faced arrest,” the official said. “There exist no prosecutions over any death.
“As long as these measures are being applied, all Palestinian detainees in confinement faces risk, including the physically well individuals, including the young ones who have no underlying conditions.”
Notable Incidents
Certain fatalities in detention have been widely reported, for instance a 50-year-old hospital director who perished in detention after four months in custody.
A detainee held with the deceased stated that he was taken to the yard by guards shortly before his passing, visibly injured and naked from the lower body. His corpse has not been repatriated to Gaza.
Additional detainees who perished in confinement by Israeli authorities are unidentified. The prison service and military provided analysts with the total of deaths in detention, and basic other details such as the site where they died, but without the inmates’ personal details.
Identification Challenges
Regarding 21 occurrences, primarily individuals from Gaza, investigators were not able to match the limited information given by government bodies to a casualty documented by human rights groups, by means of accounts from freed prisoners or coverage in the press.
The detainees’ families may not know about their loved ones’ deaths either, as Israel has created obstacles to locate Palestinians it is detaining. For seven months at the outset of the hostilities, the armed services refused to supply essential data about the condition of thousands of individuals confined in Gaza, in effect implementing a practice of involuntary missing persons, per the human rights group.
Restricted Access
From May 2024, officials have provided an email address for inquiries about Palestinians from Gaza, but this has provided only a partial and limited enhancement. Researchers noted|observed|commented on
