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Per figures provided by Israel, a minimum of 98 Palestinian individuals have died while detained since October 2023. A human rights group based in Israel has indicated that the true toll is likely significantly greater, because of numerous of disappeared people from Gaza.

Study Results

A new investigation recorded fatalities attributed to assault, failure to provide medical care, and malnutrition. Analysts used official data requests, medical examiner documents, and discussions with lawyers, human rights defenders, next of kin, and eyewitnesses.

Government bodies provided detailed data limited to the opening period of the war. During this time, government statistics indicate an unprecedented casualty rate among Palestinian prisoners, averaging a single fatality every four days.

Latest Data

The military last updated data on deaths in detention for May 2024, and the prison service in September 2024. Analysts identified an additional 35 fatalities in detention subsequent to these timeframes and validated them with official sources.

Despite the overall count of casualties recorded being substantially larger than earlier projections, it probably fails to capture the entire scope of Palestinian loss, according to the leader of the prisoner monitoring division.

“While we are providing evidence for a greater figure of deaths than previously reported, this is not the entire story,” he stated. “We are certain that there are still individuals who perished in confinement that we are unaware of.”

Civilian Deaths

Classified government records indicates that the largest portion of Palestinian prisoners from Gaza who died in detention were ordinary citizens, per a simultaneous examination.

By May of 2024, a military intelligence database tracking all fighters in Gaza, a registry of more than 47,000 named individuals, recorded only 21 fatalities in detention. At that time, 65 individuals from Palestine from Gaza had perished in jail.

Prison Situation

Assault, torture, and other abuse of detainees from Palestine has been normalised across Israel’s detention facilities over two years of conflict. Top government figures have publicly referenced minimal sustenance and an below-ground detention center holding detainees who are kept in darkness.

Present and past prisoners and whistleblowers from the defense forces have collectively claimed systemic violations of global standards.

Institutionalized Cruelty

The systematic abuse was accompanied by a alarming increase in fatalities recorded across no fewer than 12 detention centers in Israel. Over ten years preceding the hostilities, there were on average several deaths a year.

“This isn’t merely an isolated incident occasionally. It is systemic and it will continue,” a spokesperson said, partially since there is a culture of near total impunity for harming and abusing detainees.

Only a single instance of attacking detainees has come to trial, with the military personnel sentenced to half a year. A endeavor to try others over a severe beating involving sexual violence resulted in right-wing protests and the apprehension of Israel’s top military lawyer, with the accused individuals now insisting that charges against them be dismissed.

Lack of Accountability

“In spite of this mass number of casualties, during 24 months not a single person has been arrested,” the spokesperson said. “There are no indictments over any killing.

“During the time these practices are being applied, each Palestinian individual in confinement faces risk, including the healthy ones, including the youth who have no medical issues.”

Prominent Examples

Some deaths in detention have been high profile, such as a middle-aged healthcare leader who perished in detention after a third of a year in detention.

A detainee incarcerated with the deceased reported that he was brought to the yard by correctional officers just prior to his demise, obviously hurt and unclothed from the hips downward. His corpse remains unreleased to Gaza.

Further inmates who died in confinement by Israeli authorities are unidentified. Detention administrators and military supplied investigators with the figure of casualties in detention, and basic other details including the site where they died, but not the detainees’ identities.

Documentation Problems

In 21 cases, mainly people from Gaza, investigators were unable to correlate the few details supplied by authorities to a fatality documented by advocacy bodies, either through accounts from former inmates or reporting in the media.

The prisoners’ relatives might not have learned about their family members’ fatalities as well, as Israel has created obstacles to locate detainees it is detaining. For seven months at the start of the hostilities, the Israeli military refused to give basic information about the status of numerous of individuals detained in Gaza, in effect implementing a practice of forced disappearance, according to the advocacy organization.

Restricted Access

Beginning last May, officials have established an email address for requests about Palestinians from Gaza, but this has provided only a modest and inadequate improvement. Analysts noted|observed|commented on