No Fewer Than 98 Palestinian Detainees Have Perished in Detention Since October 2023, Statistics from Israel Shows

According to figures released by Israel, no fewer than 98 detainees from Palestine have died while detained starting from October 2023. A rights monitoring body operating from Israel has stated that the actual figure is almost certainly significantly larger, due to many of disappeared individuals in Gaza.

Report Findings

A recent report tracked deaths attributed to physical violence, lack of healthcare, and starvation. Investigators used official data requests, medical examiner documents, and testimonies with legal representatives, activists, relatives, and observers.

Government bodies disclosed complete statistics solely covering the initial 240 days of the hostilities. Throughout these months, reported numbers indicate an unprecedented fatality rate among Palestinian detainees, equating to a life lost every four days.

Recent Figures

Official armed forces most recently revised data on detention fatalities for May 2024, and correctional authorities by September 2024. Investigators documented a further 35 deaths in confinement following these periods and verified them with government bodies.

Although the total number of deaths recorded being much greater than previous assessments, it probably fails to capture the complete extent of Palestinian loss, as stated by the head of the detainee affairs unit.

“Even though we are providing evidence for a higher number of deaths than previously reported, this is not a full picture,” he explained. “We are sure that there are even now people who died in detention that we don’t know about.”

Civilian Casualties

Restricted Israeli data indicates that the vast majority of Palestinian detainees from Gaza who died in detention were non-combatants, based on a simultaneous examination.

In May of 2024, a military intelligence database tracking all combatants in Gaza, a registry of over 47,000 listed people, recorded only 21 casualties in detention. By that point, 65 Palestinians from Gaza had died in detention.

Custodial Environment

Brutality, torture, and additional maltreatment of Palestinian individuals has become routine across Israel’s prison network during two years of conflict. Top government figures have publicly acknowledged minimal sustenance and an below-ground detention center holding Palestinian individuals who never see daylight.

Existing and previous inmates and whistleblowers from the defense forces have all alleged routine infractions of international law.

Organized Maltreatment

The organized mistreatment occurred alongside a alarming increase in deaths registered across no fewer than 12 detention centers in Israel. During the previous decade prior to the hostilities, there were on average several deaths a year.

“This does not represent only a single occurrence occasionally. It is widespread and it will continue,” a representative commented, partly because there is a climate of near total impunity for fatalities and maltreatment of detainees.

Only a single instance of beating prisoners has come to trial, with the military personnel given a penalty to seven months. An effort to prosecute other suspects over a brutal attack featuring sexual violence led to public rallies and the apprehension of Israel’s senior defense attorney, with the alleged perpetrators now insisting that allegations against them are dropped.

Lack of Accountability

“In spite of this mass number of deaths, during 24 months not one individual has been detained,” the official stated. “There have been no charges over any fatality.

“During the time these practices are being applied, every Palestinian in detention faces risk, including the healthy ones, even the young ones who have no medical issues.”

Prominent Examples

Several casualties in confinement have been widely reported, for instance a 50-year-old healthcare leader who lost his life in detention after four months in detention.

A detainee detained alongside the deceased testified that he was led to the exercise area by guards shortly before his demise, clearly wounded and unclothed from the waist down. His remains has not been returned to Gaza.

Further inmates who perished in detention in Israel remain anonymous. The prison service and armed services provided analysts with the figure of deaths in detention, and limited additional information such as the facility where they perished, but without the detainees’ identities.

Documentation Problems

In 21 cases, mostly individuals from Gaza, investigators could not to correlate the few details provided by authorities to a death registered by advocacy bodies, via accounts from released detainees or accounts in the media.

The inmates’ next of kin could be unaware about their family members’ fatalities either, as Israel has created obstacles to track Palestinians it is detaining. Over half a year at the start of the hostilities, the defense forces would not provide to supply fundamental details about the whereabouts of many of individuals confined in Gaza, in effect carrying out a practice of involuntary missing persons, as stated by the rights monitoring body.

Restricted Access

Starting in May 2024, officials have established an email address for enquiries about Palestinian individuals from Gaza, but this has led to just a modest and inadequate enhancement. Researchers noted|observed|commented on