No Fewer Than 98 Palestinians Have Died in Detention Starting From October 2023, Israeli Data Shows
Based on figures provided by Israel, at least 98 Palestinians have perished while detained beginning in October 2023. A human rights group operating from Israel has reported that the real figure is likely significantly larger, due to hundreds of missing detainees in Gaza.
Investigation Outcomes
A new investigation tracked casualties resulting from assault, failure to provide medical care, and starvation. Analysts employed official data requests, medical examiner documents, and interviews with legal representatives, human rights defenders, next of kin, and eyewitnesses.
Israeli authorities disclosed complete statistics solely covering the initial 240 days of the conflict. Over this period, reported numbers indicate an record death toll among Palestinian detainees, amounting to one death every four days.
Latest Data
The military finalized information on deaths in detention for May 2024, and the prison service in September 2024. Investigators documented a further 35 deaths in confinement subsequent to these dates and validated them with Israeli authorities.
Despite the aggregate figure of fatalities charted being substantially larger than previous assessments, it probably fails to capture the entire scope of losses among Palestinians, per the leader of the prisoners and detainees department.
“Even though we are offering documentation for a larger total of fatalities than earlier indicated, this is not a full picture,” he explained. “We are certain that there are still people who died in custody that we are unaware of.”
Civilian Deaths
Classified Israeli data shows that the vast majority of Palestinian prisoners from Gaza who died in detention were ordinary citizens, based on a simultaneous inquiry.
In May of 2024, a armed services record monitoring all militants in Gaza, a roster of over 47,000 identified persons, recorded just 21 casualties in detention. By that date, 65 Gazans from Gaza had lost their lives in jail.
Detention Conditions
Physical violence, abuse, and additional maltreatment of detainees from Palestine has been normalised across Israel’s prison network throughout 24 months of hostilities. Top government figures have openly admitted inadequate food and an below-ground detention center confining Palestinians who are denied sunlight.
Current and former detainees and whistleblowers from the armed services have uniformly asserted widespread breaches of human rights protocols.
Organized Maltreatment
The organized mistreatment came with a disturbing rise in casualties recorded across no fewer than 12 prison sites in Israel. Over ten years prior to the war, there were on average two or three casualties a year.
“This isn’t just an individual case sporadically. It is systemic and it will continue,” a representative said, partially since there is a culture of almost complete immunity for fatalities and maltreatment of Palestinians.
Only a single instance of beating inmates has come to trial, with the military personnel handed a punishment to half a year. An effort to charge others over a severe beating including abuse led to political demonstrations and the arrest of Israel’s chief legal officer, with the alleged perpetrators now demanding that charges against them be dismissed.
Absence of Consequences
“In spite of this significant total of fatalities, throughout the conflict not a single person has been arrested,” the representative stated. “There exist no indictments over any death.
“During the time these measures remain in effect, every Palestinian in detention is in danger, even the those in good health, even the youth who have no medical issues.”
High-Profile Cases
Certain fatalities in confinement have been publicly known, for instance a middle-aged hospital director who died in prison after 120 days in custody.
An inmate detained alongside the individual stated that he was brought to the yard by prison staff immediately preceding his passing, visibly injured and exposed from the hips downward. His body has not been repatriated to Gaza.
Other prisoners who perished in confinement by Israeli authorities are unidentified. Detention administrators and military supplied investigators with the figure of fatalities in custody, and minimal further data for example the location where they perished, but excluding the inmates’ personal details.
Identification Challenges
Regarding 21 occurrences, mostly individuals from Gaza, researchers were not able to connect the minimal data supplied by officials to a casualty recorded by rights organisations, via testimony from freed prisoners or coverage in the media.
The detainees’ families may not know about their loved ones’ deaths as well, as Israel has made it difficult to locate Palestinians it is detaining. For seven months at the start of the war, the defense forces would not provide to supply basic information about the condition of many of individuals detained in Gaza, effectively implementing a policy of unacknowledged detention, per the advocacy organization.
Insufficient Disclosure
From May 2024, government bodies have created an digital correspondence for inquiries about detainees from Gaza, but this has provided only a incomplete and restricted betterment. Investigators noted|observed|commented on