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According to data from Israel, at least 98 detainees from Palestine have perished during detention starting from October 2023. A human rights group located in Israel has stated that the actual figure is almost certainly significantly larger, because of many of disappeared people originating in Gaza.

Report Findings

A new investigation recorded deaths attributed to physical violence, lack of healthcare, and malnutrition. Investigators used freedom of information requests, autopsy findings, and testimonies with lawyers, advocates, next of kin, and eyewitnesses.

Israeli authorities provided detailed information limited to the first eight months of the hostilities. Throughout these months, government statistics show an historically high fatality rate among Palestinian prisoners, equating to a single fatality every four days.

Latest Data

Israeli defense forces finalized information on custodial deaths for May 2024, and the prison service by September 2024. Investigators documented an additional 35 casualties in confinement after these timeframes and confirmed them with official sources.

Although the overall count of fatalities documented being much greater than earlier projections, it likely omits the complete extent of Palestinian loss, per the head of the prisoners and detainees department.

“Even though we are presenting proof for a larger total of deaths than previously reported, this is an incomplete account,” he explained. “We are certain that there are still detainees who lost their lives in detention that we don’t know about.”

Non-Combatant Fatalities

Restricted official information shows that the largest portion of incarcerated Palestinians from Gaza who perished in detention were civilians, according to a parallel inquiry.

By May of this year, a defense forces registry following all fighters in Gaza, a registry of in excess of 47,000 named individuals, recorded only 21 casualties in confinement. At that time, 65 Palestinians from Gaza had died in detention.

Custodial Environment

Brutality, abuse, and additional maltreatment of Palestinian individuals has become routine across Israel’s jail system over the duration of war. High-ranking authorities have publicly referenced inadequate food and an underground jail detaining Palestinians who are denied sunlight.

Present and past inmates and whistleblowers from the defense forces have all alleged systemic violations of global standards.

Institutionalized Cruelty

The institutionalised cruelty was accompanied by a disturbing rise in casualties registered across at least 12 detention centers in Israel. In the decade prior to the hostilities, there were usually several deaths a year.

“This does not represent just an individual case here and there. It is widespread and it is likely to persist,” a spokesperson said, partially because there is a culture of virtual exemption from consequences for fatalities and maltreatment of detainees.

Just one case of beating inmates has reached litigation, with the soldier given a penalty to 210 days. An attempt to try other suspects over a brutal attack involving assault resulted in right-wing protests and the arrest of Israel’s chief legal officer, with the suspects now requesting that allegations against them be dismissed.

Absence of Consequences

“In spite of this significant total of deaths, throughout the conflict not one individual has been arrested,” the representative noted. “There have been no indictments over any killing.

“During the time these policies continue to be enforced, each Palestinian individual in custody is in danger, also the healthy ones, including the juveniles who have no medical issues.”

Notable Incidents

Several casualties in confinement have been publicly known, for instance a middle-aged medical chief who lost his life in confinement after 120 days in confinement.

A detainee detained alongside the deceased stated that he was led to the yard by prison staff just prior to his passing, visibly injured and exposed from the waist down. His corpse has not been returned to Gaza.

Additional detainees who died in confinement by Israeli authorities stay unnamed. Correctional authorities and military provided analysts with the figure of casualties in detention, and limited further data for example the location where they died, but not the prisoners’ names.

Identification Challenges

For 21 instances, primarily individuals from Gaza, analysts were unable to correlate the limited information given by officials to a death documented by advocacy bodies, either through accounts from freed prisoners or accounts in the press.

The detainees’ families might not have learned about their relatives’ casualties either, as Israel has made it difficult to monitor detainees it is detaining. For seven months at the start of the conflict, the Israeli military would not provide to supply essential data about the condition of numerous of persons confined in Gaza, practically enacting a practice of involuntary missing persons, according to the human rights group.

Insufficient Disclosure

Beginning last May, authorities have provided an electronic contact for enquiries about detainees from Gaza, but this has led to just a modest and inadequate betterment. Researchers noted|observed|commented on