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According to information released by Israel, at least 98 detainees from Palestine have died during detention since October 2023. An advocacy organization based in Israel has indicated that the real figure is probably considerably greater, because of hundreds of unaccounted for individuals originating in Gaza.

Report Findings

An updated study tracked fatalities caused by assault, failure to provide medical care, and malnutrition. Researchers used freedom of information requests, medical examiner documents, and testimonies with attorneys, advocates, next of kin, and eyewitnesses.

Official sources released complete data limited to the initial 240 days of the hostilities. Throughout these months, reported numbers indicate an unprecedented death toll among detained Palestinians, averaging a life lost each 96 hours.

Recent Figures

Official armed forces last updated data on custodial deaths for May 2024, and correctional authorities in September 2024. Investigators identified another 35 deaths in detention after these periods and verified them with official sources.

Even with the total number of fatalities documented being much greater than previous assessments, it likely omits the complete extent of losses among Palestinians, per the director of the detainee affairs unit.

“While we are providing evidence for a higher number of fatalities than once estimated, this is not the entire story,” he said. “We are sure that there are still people who lost their lives in confinement that we have not identified.”

Non-Combatant Fatalities

Classified official information indicates that the majority of incarcerated Palestinians from Gaza who died in prison were ordinary citizens, per a simultaneous investigation.

In May of this year, a armed services record monitoring all combatants in Gaza, a list of in excess of 47,000 listed people, recorded merely 21 casualties in custody. By that date, 65 Palestinians from Gaza had perished in jail.

Prison Situation

Brutality, torture, and other abuse of Palestinian individuals has become routine across Israel’s jail system over 24 months of war. High-ranking authorities have publicly referenced inadequate food and an underground jail detaining detainees who are denied sunlight.

Current and former detainees and insiders from the Israeli military have uniformly asserted routine infractions of global standards.

Institutionalized Cruelty

The systematic abuse was accompanied by a alarming increase in deaths documented across no fewer than 12 civilian and military facilities in Israel. Over ten years prior to the war, there were typically a couple deaths a year.

“This isn’t just an individual case occasionally. It is widespread and it is likely to persist,” a representative stated, in part since there is a environment of almost complete immunity for fatalities and maltreatment of Palestinian individuals.

Only a single instance of beating inmates has come to trial, with the military personnel sentenced to 210 days. An attempt to prosecute additional individuals over a vicious assault including assault resulted in public rallies and the apprehension of Israel’s chief legal officer, with the alleged perpetrators now demanding that indictments against them are dropped.

Lack of Accountability

“Regardless of this significant total of fatalities, over two years not a single person has been arrested,” the spokesperson noted. “There have been no prosecutions over any fatality.

“During the time these policies remain in effect, each Palestinian individual in custody is in danger, even the healthy ones, also the youth who have no medical issues.”

Prominent Examples

Some deaths in custody have been high profile, for instance a 50-year-old hospital director who lost his life in detention after 120 days in detention.

A prisoner held with the deceased stated that he was taken to the exercise area by guards just prior to his death, clearly wounded and unclothed from the lower body. His body has not been returned to Gaza.

Other prisoners who died in detention in Israel remain anonymous. The prison service and defense forces gave investigators with the total of casualties in detention, and basic additional information including the facility where they lost their lives, but not the prisoners’ names.

Documentation Problems

Regarding 21 occurrences, mainly people from Gaza, researchers were not able to match the minimal data provided by authorities to a casualty documented by advocacy bodies, via statements from freed prisoners or reporting in the press.

The prisoners’ relatives may not know about their loved ones’ deaths also, as Israel has impeded efforts to locate detainees it is holding. For seven months at the beginning of the conflict, the Israeli military declined to provide essential data about the whereabouts of thousands of persons held in Gaza, practically carrying out a practice of forced disappearance, per the advocacy organization.

Limited Transparency

Starting in May 2024, officials have provided an email address for requests about detainees from Gaza, but this has led to just a partial and limited improvement. Investigators noted|observed|commented on