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According to figures released by Israel, no fewer than 98 Palestinian individuals have died while detained beginning in October 2023. An advocacy organization based in Israel has stated that the real figure is almost certainly considerably greater, because of many of missing people from Gaza.

Report Findings

A new investigation recorded fatalities caused by physical violence, failure to provide medical care, and malnutrition. Investigators utilized transparency petitions, medical examiner documents, and interviews with attorneys, activists, family members, and observers.

Official sources provided complete data solely covering the opening period of the conflict. Throughout these months, reported numbers reveal an record casualty rate among Palestinian prisoners, averaging one death each 96 hours.

Recent Figures

The military last updated data on custodial deaths for May 2024, and correctional authorities by September 2024. Analysts discovered a further 35 fatalities in detention after these periods and verified them with Israeli authorities.

Despite the total number of casualties recorded being substantially larger than earlier projections, it probably omits the entire scope of Palestinian casualties, as stated by the director of the prisoner monitoring division.

“Although we are providing evidence for a higher number of casualties than previously reported, this is not a full picture,” he said. “We are certain that there are even now individuals who died in confinement that we have not identified.”

Civilian Deaths

Classified government records shows that the largest portion of Palestinian detainees from Gaza who lost their lives in jail were ordinary citizens, per a related inquiry.

By May of this year, a military intelligence database following all combatants in Gaza, a roster of in excess of 47,000 listed people, listed merely 21 casualties in custody. At that time, 65 Palestinians from Gaza had died in jail.

Detention Conditions

Assault, abuse, and further cruelty of detainees from Palestine is now standard practice across Israel’s prison network during two years of war. Top government figures have publicly referenced starvation rations and an below-ground detention center detaining detainees who are kept in darkness.

Current and former inmates and informants from the defense forces have all alleged widespread breaches of global standards.

Systemic Abuse

The institutionalised cruelty occurred alongside a troubling surge in deaths registered across no fewer than 12 prison sites in Israel. Over ten years preceding the war, there were typically two or three deaths a year.

“This isn’t only a single occurrence sporadically. It is widespread and it is likely to persist,” an official commented, in part due to the fact there is a climate of virtual exemption from consequences for harming and abusing Palestinians.

Only a single instance of attacking detainees has come to trial, with the military personnel sentenced to half a year. An attempt to prosecute others over a brutal attack including sexual violence caused public rallies and the apprehension of Israel’s top military lawyer, with the accused individuals now insisting that allegations against them are dropped.

Absence of Consequences

“Despite this mass number of deaths, over two years no one has been detained,” the official noted. “There have been no indictments over any death.

“As long as these measures are being applied, every Palestinian in custody is in danger, including the physically well individuals, including the young ones who have no medical issues.”

High-Profile Cases

Several casualties in detention have been high profile, including a 50-year-old hospital director who perished in prison after four months in detention.

A prisoner incarcerated with the individual testified that he was led to the courtyard by prison staff immediately preceding his death, visibly injured and naked from the waist down. His body has not been returned to Gaza.

Other prisoners who lost their lives in confinement by Israeli authorities stay unnamed. Correctional authorities and armed services provided analysts with the number of fatalities in confinement, and basic further data including the location where they lost their lives, but not the detainees’ identities.

Identification Challenges

In 21 cases, primarily individuals from Gaza, researchers were not able to match the few details provided by authorities to a casualty documented by advocacy bodies, via statements from freed prisoners or accounts in the press.

The inmates’ next of kin could be unaware about their family members’ fatalities either, as Israel has made it difficult to locate Palestinian individuals it is holding. For seven months at the outset of the conflict, the armed services would not provide to give basic information about the whereabouts of many of people detained in Gaza, effectively implementing a policy of forced disappearance, as stated by the rights monitoring body.

Restricted Access

From May 2024, government bodies have established an email address for enquiries about Palestinians from Gaza, but this has provided only a modest and inadequate enhancement. Researchers noted|observed|commented on