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Based on data released by Israel, at least 98 Palestinian individuals have died while detained since October 2023. An advocacy organization based in Israel has indicated that the actual figure is likely significantly greater, because of many of unaccounted for people originating in Gaza.

Report Findings

A recent report tracked fatalities caused by physical violence, medical neglect, and starvation. Researchers used transparency petitions, autopsy findings, and interviews with attorneys, human rights defenders, relatives, and observers.

Government bodies provided detailed statistics only for the initial 240 days of the war. During this time, reported numbers show an record death toll among detained Palestinians, equating to one death each 96 hours.

Recent Figures

Official armed forces finalized information on custodial deaths for May 2024, and correctional authorities in September 2024. Analysts identified a further 35 deaths in detention after these dates and confirmed them with official sources.

Even with the overall count of deaths documented being much greater than previous assessments, it likely fails to capture the complete extent of Palestinian casualties, according to the director of the prisoner monitoring division.

“Even though we are providing evidence for a higher number of casualties than once estimated, this is not a full picture,” he said. “We are certain that there are even now detainees who perished in detention that we have not identified.”

Civilian Deaths

Confidential government records indicates that the majority of incarcerated Palestinians from Gaza who died in prison were non-combatants, according to a simultaneous inquiry.

In May of this year, a military intelligence database following all fighters in Gaza, a registry of over 47,000 identified persons, documented only 21 fatalities in confinement. At that time, 65 Gazans from Gaza had died in prison.

Prison Situation

Brutality, torture, and additional maltreatment of Palestinian individuals has been normalised across Israel’s prison network over two years of hostilities. Senior officials have openly admitted starvation rations and an underground jail detaining Palestinian individuals who never see daylight.

Present and past inmates and informants from the armed services have uniformly asserted systemic violations of international law.

Institutionalized Cruelty

The systematic abuse occurred alongside a troubling surge in fatalities documented across no fewer than 12 prison sites in Israel. In the decade prior to the hostilities, there were typically two or three fatalities a year.

“This isn’t only a single occurrence sporadically. It is systemic and it is expected to endure,” an official said, partially due to the fact there is a environment of near total impunity for killing and mistreating detainees.

Merely one incident of assaulting inmates has come to trial, with the military personnel sentenced to seven months. An attempt to charge others over a brutal attack including sexual violence led to right-wing protests and the arrest of Israel’s chief legal officer, with the suspects now insisting that charges against them be dismissed.

No Legal Action

“Despite this significant total of casualties, over two years not a single person has been arrested,” the spokesperson stated. “There are no charges over any fatality.

“During the time these measures remain in effect, every Palestinian in custody is in danger, including the healthy ones, including the youth who have no medical issues.”

Prominent Examples

Certain fatalities in custody have been high profile, such as a 50-year-old hospital director who lost his life in detention after 120 days in confinement.

A detainee held with the victim reported that he was led to the yard by correctional officers immediately preceding his death, obviously hurt and exposed from the lower body. His corpse has not been repatriated to Gaza.

Other prisoners who lost their lives in detention in Israel are unidentified. Detention administrators and military supplied analysts with the number of deaths in confinement, and basic additional information such as the facility where they died, but not the inmates’ personal details.

Documentation Problems

Regarding 21 occurrences, mainly individuals from Gaza, investigators were not able to connect the limited information provided by government bodies to a casualty recorded by human rights groups, either through testimony from former inmates or accounts in the news outlets.

The inmates’ next of kin may not know about their loved ones’ deaths as well, as Israel has impeded efforts to monitor Palestinians it is detaining. During 210 days at the beginning of the hostilities, the armed services declined to supply essential data about the whereabouts of thousands of persons confined in Gaza, practically implementing a policy of unacknowledged detention, as stated by the rights monitoring body.

Limited Transparency

Starting in May 2024, officials have created an electronic contact for requests about detainees from Gaza, but this has resulted in merely a partial and limited improvement. Analysts noted|observed|commented on