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Per figures provided by Israel, at least 98 detainees from Palestine have died during detention since October 2023. An advocacy organization operating from Israel has stated that the actual figure is likely significantly greater, due to many of unaccounted for individuals originating in Gaza.

Study Results

A new investigation documented fatalities resulting from physical violence, failure to provide medical care, and malnutrition. Researchers employed freedom of information requests, medical examiner documents, and interviews with legal representatives, advocates, family members, and observers.

Government bodies disclosed comprehensive statistics only for the initial 240 days of the war. Over this period, official figures reveal an unprecedented fatality rate among Palestinian prisoners, equating to a single fatality each 96 hours.

Recent Figures

Israeli defense forces finalized data on deaths in detention for May 2024, and correctional authorities during September 2024. Investigators identified an additional 35 fatalities in confinement after these periods and confirmed them with official sources.

Despite the total number of deaths charted being substantially larger than other recent estimates, it almost certainly does not reflect the full scale of Palestinian loss, as stated by the director of the prisoners and detainees department.

“While we are providing evidence for a larger total of deaths than once estimated, this is not a full picture,” he explained. “We are certain that there are yet people who lost their lives in detention that we have not identified.”

Non-Combatant Fatalities

Confidential official information suggests that the vast majority of Palestinian prisoners from Gaza who perished in detention were ordinary citizens, based on a parallel examination.

In May of 2024, a armed services record tracking all combatants in Gaza, a list of over 47,000 listed people, recorded only 21 deaths in detention. By that date, 65 individuals from Palestine from Gaza had perished in prison.

Custodial Environment

Assault, torture, and further cruelty of Palestinians is now standard practice across Israel’s prison network over two years of war. High-ranking authorities have publicly referenced minimal sustenance and an subterranean prison detaining Palestinian individuals who never see daylight.

Existing and previous inmates and whistleblowers from the defense forces have uniformly asserted widespread breaches of international law.

Organized Maltreatment

The organized mistreatment occurred alongside a alarming increase in casualties registered across no fewer than 12 civilian and military facilities in Israel. During the previous decade preceding the hostilities, there were usually two or three deaths a year.

“This isn’t merely an isolated incident here and there. It is widespread and it is likely to persist,” a representative said, in part because there is a culture of almost complete immunity for harming and abusing Palestinian individuals.

Just one case of attacking detainees has come to trial, with the service member sentenced to half a year. A endeavor to charge others over a vicious assault including abuse caused public rallies and the detention of Israel’s chief legal officer, with the accused individuals now insisting that allegations against them be withdrawn.

Absence of Consequences

“In spite of this large quantity of fatalities, during 24 months not a single person has faced arrest,” the official noted. “There are no prosecutions over any fatality.

“As long as these practices remain in effect, every Palestinian in detention is in danger, even the physically well individuals, even the juveniles who have no medical issues.”

High-Profile Cases

Several casualties in detention have been high profile, such as a middle-aged healthcare leader who died in confinement after a third of a year in confinement.

A detainee detained alongside the victim stated that he was led to the exercise area by prison staff just prior to his demise, clearly wounded and naked from the waist down. His body remains unreleased to Gaza.

Further inmates who died in confinement by Israeli authorities stay unnamed. Detention administrators and armed services gave analysts with the figure of casualties in custody, and limited other details such as the site where they died, but not the detainees’ identities.

Recognition Difficulties

Regarding 21 occurrences, mainly individuals from Gaza, investigators were not able to correlate the limited information supplied by officials to a fatality registered by rights organisations, via statements from released detainees or accounts in the news outlets.

The detainees’ families could be unaware about their relatives’ casualties as well, as Israel has made it difficult to track Palestinian individuals it is confining. During 210 days at the start of the conflict, the armed services refused to give essential data about the whereabouts of many of individuals held in Gaza, effectively enacting a practice of involuntary missing persons, according to the advocacy organization.

Insufficient Disclosure

Starting in May 2024, government bodies have provided an digital correspondence for requests about Palestinian individuals from Gaza, but this has provided only a partial and limited improvement. Investigators noted|observed|commented on