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Based on information from Israel, at least 98 Palestinians have died during detention beginning in October 2023. An advocacy organization operating from Israel has reported that the real figure is probably substantially higher, because of numerous of unaccounted for people from Gaza.

Report Findings

A new investigation documented fatalities attributed to physical violence, failure to provide medical care, and starvation. Researchers utilized official data requests, forensic reports, and interviews with legal representatives, human rights defenders, family members, and eyewitnesses.

Official sources released comprehensive data only for the first eight months of the hostilities. Over this period, official figures reveal an record fatality rate among Palestinian prisoners, equating to a single fatality each 96 hours.

Latest Data

The military last updated information on custodial deaths for May 2024, and the prison service in September 2024. Investigators documented another 35 casualties in custody following these periods and confirmed them with government bodies.

Although the aggregate figure of deaths documented being much greater than earlier projections, it almost certainly omits the complete extent of Palestinian casualties, per the leader of the prisoners and detainees department.

“Even though we are presenting proof for a larger total of fatalities than previously reported, this is not a full picture,” he said. “We are sure that there are yet individuals who lost their lives in detention that we are unaware of.”

Non-Combatant Fatalities

Classified Israeli data suggests that the largest portion of Palestinian detainees from Gaza who died in prison were ordinary citizens, according to a related investigation.

In May of 2024, a armed services record tracking all combatants in Gaza, a registry of in excess of 47,000 named individuals, documented merely 21 fatalities in detention. By that point, 65 Palestinians from Gaza had perished in jail.

Detention Conditions

Physical violence, mistreatment, and additional maltreatment of Palestinians has been normalised across Israel’s detention facilities throughout two years of conflict. High-ranking authorities have openly admitted inadequate food and an underground jail holding Palestinians who are denied sunlight.

Current and former detainees and insiders from the defense forces have uniformly asserted routine infractions of international law.

Organized Maltreatment

The institutionalised cruelty came with a disturbing rise in casualties registered across at least 12 detention centers in Israel. Over ten years prior to the hostilities, there were typically several casualties a year.

“This isn’t only a single occurrence occasionally. It is institutional and it is likely to persist,” a spokesperson commented, in part since there is a environment of near total impunity for killing and mistreating detainees.

Only a single instance of assaulting detainees has proceeded to court, with the service member sentenced to half a year. An attempt to charge additional individuals over a vicious assault featuring assault led to political demonstrations and the arrest of Israel’s top military lawyer, with the suspects now demanding that allegations against them are dropped.

Lack of Accountability

“Despite this significant total of fatalities, during 24 months not a single person has been detained,” the representative stated. “There have been no charges over any death.

“As long as these policies are being applied, all Palestinian detainees in confinement is at peril, including the physically well individuals, including the young ones who have no underlying conditions.”

High-Profile Cases

Several casualties in confinement have been high profile, including a middle-aged medical chief who perished in confinement after four months in confinement.

An inmate incarcerated with the individual testified that he was brought to the yard by correctional officers immediately preceding his death, obviously hurt and naked from the hips downward. His remains remains unreleased to Gaza.

Further inmates who lost their lives in confinement by Israeli authorities are unidentified. The prison service and defense forces gave investigators with the number of deaths in confinement, and basic additional information including the facility where they perished, but without the detainees’ identities.

Documentation Problems

In 21 cases, mainly detainees from Gaza, analysts were unable to connect the few details provided by authorities to a fatality registered by advocacy bodies, either through testimony from freed prisoners or coverage in the media.

The prisoners’ relatives may not know about their relatives’ casualties either, as Israel has created obstacles to locate Palestinian individuals it is detaining. During 210 days at the outset of the war, the defense forces declined to supply essential data about the condition of numerous of individuals confined in Gaza, practically carrying out a approach of involuntary missing persons, according to the human rights group.

Restricted Access

Beginning last May, government bodies have provided an email address for requests about detainees from Gaza, but this has led to just a modest and inadequate improvement. Analysts noted|observed|commented on