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Per figures provided by Israel, at least 98 Palestinian individuals have perished while in custody since October 2023. An advocacy organization located in Israel has reported that the true number is likely considerably greater, because of hundreds of missing people from Gaza.

Study Results

A new investigation recorded deaths resulting from physical violence, lack of healthcare, and inadequate nutrition. Researchers used transparency petitions, medical examiner documents, and interviews with lawyers, activists, relatives, and eyewitnesses.

Government bodies provided detailed information limited to the initial 240 days of the war. Throughout these months, reported numbers show an unprecedented casualty rate among detained Palestinians, equating to a single fatality every four days.

Latest Data

Official armed forces finalized records on detention fatalities for May 2024, and the prison service by September 2024. Investigators documented an additional 35 deaths in confinement after these dates and confirmed them with Israeli authorities.

Although the overall count of casualties documented being much greater than earlier projections, it probably does not reflect the entire scope of Palestinian casualties, per the leader of the prisoner monitoring division.

“Although we are offering documentation for a higher number of fatalities than once estimated, this is not the entire story,” he stated. “We are confident that there are still people who lost their lives in confinement that we don’t know about.”

Civilian Deaths

Confidential government records indicates that the majority of Palestinian prisoners from Gaza who perished in detention were civilians, according to a related investigation.

By May of this year, a military intelligence database monitoring all militants in Gaza, a list of over 47,000 identified persons, documented just 21 casualties in confinement. At that time, 65 Gazans from Gaza had died in jail.

Custodial Environment

Assault, mistreatment, and other abuse of Palestinians is now standard practice across Israel’s prison network throughout two years of hostilities. Senior officials have publicly referenced inadequate food and an below-ground detention center confining Palestinian individuals who never see daylight.

Current and former inmates and insiders from the armed services have all alleged systemic violations of human rights protocols.

Systemic Abuse

The institutionalised cruelty came with a alarming increase in deaths recorded across at least 12 prison sites in Israel. During the previous decade before the hostilities, there were on average two or three fatalities a year.

“This does not represent only a single occurrence occasionally. It is widespread and it is likely to persist,” an official said, in part due to the fact there is a culture of virtual exemption from consequences for killing and mistreating detainees.

Just one case of attacking inmates has come to trial, with the service member given a penalty to seven months. An attempt to charge additional individuals over a brutal attack featuring assault led to public rallies and the detention of Israel’s senior defense attorney, with the alleged perpetrators now insisting that indictments against them be withdrawn.

Absence of Consequences

“Despite this significant total of fatalities, during 24 months no one has been arrested,” the representative said. “There have been no indictments over any death.

“As long as these measures continue to be enforced, every Palestinian in confinement is at peril, also the healthy ones, also the youth who have no underlying conditions.”

High-Profile Cases

Several casualties in custody have been high profile, such as a senior hospital director who died in confinement after 120 days in custody.

An inmate held with the victim stated that he was brought to the yard by correctional officers immediately preceding his death, visibly injured and unclothed from the waist down. His remains has not been repatriated to Gaza.

Additional detainees who perished in detention in Israel remain anonymous. Correctional authorities and armed services gave researchers with the number of fatalities in custody, and limited additional information such as the facility where they perished, but without the prisoners’ names.

Documentation Problems

In 21 cases, mainly detainees from Gaza, researchers could not to connect the few details given by authorities to a fatality documented by advocacy bodies, via statements from former inmates or accounts in the media.

The prisoners’ relatives might not have learned about their relatives’ casualties either, as Israel has impeded efforts to locate Palestinian individuals it is holding. During 210 days at the outset of the war, the armed services would not provide to supply basic information about the whereabouts of many of people detained in Gaza, effectively enacting a policy of unacknowledged detention, according to the human rights group.

Limited Transparency

Beginning last May, authorities have created an electronic contact for enquiries about Palestinian individuals from Gaza, but this has led to just a partial and limited improvement. Researchers noted|observed|commented on