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Per figures released by Israel, at least 98 Palestinian individuals have died during detention since October 2023. A human rights group operating from Israel has indicated that the actual number is probably significantly greater, because of hundreds of unaccounted for people in Gaza.

Study Results

A recent report documented casualties resulting from brutality, lack of healthcare, and starvation. Researchers used official data requests, autopsy findings, and testimonies with lawyers, human rights defenders, relatives, and witnesses.

Israeli authorities provided comprehensive statistics limited to the first eight months of the hostilities. Throughout these months, official figures indicate an unprecedented fatality rate among Palestinian prisoners, averaging a single fatality every four days.

Recent Figures

Official armed forces finalized data on deaths in detention for May 2024, and the prison service by September 2024. Researchers documented an additional 35 deaths in confinement subsequent to these dates and confirmed them with government bodies.

Although the total number of casualties documented being significantly higher than previous assessments, it almost certainly does not reflect the entire scope of losses among Palestinians, as stated by the head of the prisoners and detainees department.

“Even though we are providing evidence for a greater figure of deaths than earlier indicated, this is not a full picture,” he explained. “We are certain that there are still individuals who died in custody that we don’t know about.”

Civilian Casualties

Restricted Israeli data suggests that the largest portion of incarcerated Palestinians from Gaza who lost their lives in prison were non-combatants, according to a parallel investigation.

By May of this year, a defense forces registry monitoring all combatants in Gaza, a roster of more than 47,000 named individuals, listed merely 21 fatalities in detention. By that point, 65 Palestinians from Gaza had died in jail.

Prison Situation

Assault, abuse, and additional maltreatment of detainees from Palestine is now standard practice across Israel’s prison network during two years of conflict. Senior officials have publicly referenced inadequate food and an underground jail confining Palestinians who are denied sunlight.

Current and former inmates and whistleblowers from the defense forces have collectively claimed routine infractions of international law.

Institutionalized Cruelty

The organized mistreatment came with a troubling surge in fatalities registered across no fewer than 12 detention centers in Israel. In the decade prior to the war, there were on average several casualties a year.

“This is not just an individual case here and there. It is institutional and it will continue,” an official stated, in part due to the fact there is a culture of almost complete immunity for fatalities and maltreatment of detainees.

Only a single instance of assaulting inmates has come to trial, with the military personnel handed a punishment to 210 days. An attempt to charge others over a vicious assault featuring abuse caused public rallies and the apprehension of Israel’s top military lawyer, with the alleged perpetrators now insisting that charges against them be withdrawn.

No Legal Action

“In spite of this large quantity of deaths, over two years not a single person has been arrested,” the official stated. “There are no indictments over any fatality.

“While these measures are being applied, every Palestinian in custody is in danger, including the those in good health, including the juveniles who have no health problems.”

Prominent Examples

Some deaths in confinement have been widely reported, including a 50-year-old healthcare leader who died in confinement after four months in detention.

An inmate held with the deceased stated that he was brought to the exercise area by prison staff immediately preceding his death, obviously hurt and unclothed from the waist down. His remains has not been repatriated to Gaza.

Other prisoners who lost their lives in confinement by Israeli authorities remain anonymous. Detention administrators and defense forces gave researchers with the figure of fatalities in confinement, and basic additional information such as the site where they died, but without the inmates’ personal details.

Documentation Problems

In 21 cases, primarily detainees from Gaza, researchers were unable to correlate the limited information provided by authorities to a fatality recorded by advocacy bodies, via statements from freed prisoners or reporting in the news outlets.

The detainees’ families might not have learned about their relatives’ casualties either, as Israel has impeded efforts to locate Palestinians it is holding. Over half a year at the outset of the war, the armed services refused to provide basic information about the status of thousands of individuals detained in Gaza, in effect enacting a approach of unacknowledged detention, as stated by the rights monitoring body.

Restricted Access

Beginning last May, authorities have provided an electronic contact for inquiries about Palestinian individuals from Gaza, but this has led to just a modest and inadequate enhancement. Investigators noted|observed|commented on