No Fewer Than 98 Palestinians Have Perished in Israeli Custody Since October 2023, Israeli Data Shows

According to data from Israel, no fewer than 98 detainees from Palestine have lost their lives while in custody since October 2023. A human rights group based in Israel has stated that the true number is almost certainly significantly greater, as a result of numerous of disappeared people from Gaza.

Study Results

A new investigation documented fatalities resulting from physical violence, failure to provide medical care, and starvation. Researchers employed official data requests, medical examiner documents, and discussions with attorneys, human rights defenders, family members, and witnesses.

Official sources released comprehensive information limited to the opening period of the war. Over this period, reported numbers reveal an historically high death toll among Palestinian detainees, amounting to a life lost each 96 hours.

Recent Figures

The military finalized data on deaths in detention for May 2024, and the prison service in September 2024. Investigators documented a further 35 deaths in confinement following these dates and verified them with government bodies.

Even with the total number of fatalities documented being significantly higher than previous assessments, it probably does not reflect the complete extent of Palestinian loss, as stated by the director of the prisoner monitoring division.

“While we are presenting proof for a higher number of casualties than earlier indicated, this is not a full picture,” he said. “We are sure that there are still individuals who perished in detention that we are unaware of.”

Non-Combatant Fatalities

Classified official information suggests that the majority of Palestinian prisoners from Gaza who perished in jail were civilians, per a related inquiry.

By May of this year, a military intelligence database tracking all militants in Gaza, a roster of over 47,000 named individuals, recorded just 21 deaths in detention. By that point, 65 Gazans from Gaza had perished in prison.

Prison Situation

Brutality, abuse, and additional maltreatment of detainees from Palestine has been normalised across Israel’s prison network during the duration of conflict. Senior officials have publicly referenced starvation rations and an underground jail detaining Palestinian individuals who are kept in darkness.

Existing and previous prisoners and informants from the Israeli military have collectively claimed systemic violations of human rights protocols.

Institutionalized Cruelty

The organized mistreatment came with a troubling surge in fatalities documented across at least 12 civilian and military facilities in Israel. In the decade preceding the conflict, there were on average several deaths a year.

“This does not represent only a single occurrence here and there. It is widespread and it will continue,” a representative commented, partly because there is a culture of virtual exemption from consequences for killing and mistreating Palestinians.

Just one case of assaulting detainees has proceeded to court, with the military personnel handed a punishment to 210 days. An effort to charge additional individuals over a severe beating including sexual violence led to right-wing protests and the apprehension of Israel’s senior defense attorney, with the suspects now requesting that indictments against them are dropped.

Lack of Accountability

“Despite this significant total of fatalities, over two years not a single person has been arrested,” the official stated. “There have been no indictments over any killing.

“As long as these practices remain in effect, all Palestinian detainees in custody is in danger, including the healthy ones, including the juveniles who have no underlying conditions.”

Notable Incidents

Certain fatalities in custody have been high profile, for instance a middle-aged healthcare leader who lost his life in detention after four months in custody.

A detainee detained alongside the deceased reported that he was brought to the yard by guards immediately preceding his demise, visibly injured and exposed from the lower body. His corpse has not been repatriated to Gaza.

Further inmates who lost their lives in confinement by Israeli authorities remain anonymous. The prison service and defense forces supplied investigators with the figure of deaths in confinement, and minimal further data for example the site where they lost their lives, but without the prisoners’ names.

Recognition Difficulties

For 21 instances, mostly people from Gaza, analysts were unable to match the limited information provided by government bodies to a fatality recorded by advocacy bodies, via statements from former inmates or reporting in the press.

The detainees’ families might not have learned about their relatives’ casualties also, as Israel has made it difficult to track Palestinians it is confining. For seven months at the start of the hostilities, the Israeli military declined to provide basic information about the condition of many of people confined in Gaza, in effect implementing a approach of forced disappearance, as stated by the human rights group.

Insufficient Disclosure

From May 2024, authorities have created an digital correspondence for enquiries about detainees from Gaza, but this has led to just a modest and inadequate betterment. Investigators noted|observed|commented on