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Based on information provided by Israel, no fewer than 98 Palestinian individuals have lost their lives during detention starting from October 2023. A human rights group located in Israel has stated that the real toll is almost certainly considerably larger, as a result of many of missing detainees originating in Gaza.

Report Findings

A new investigation recorded deaths resulting from physical violence, lack of healthcare, and malnutrition. Investigators employed freedom of information requests, autopsy findings, and discussions with attorneys, human rights defenders, family members, and eyewitnesses.

Official sources provided complete statistics limited to the initial 240 days of the war. Throughout these months, official figures indicate an unprecedented death toll among detained Palestinians, averaging one death once every four-day period.

Recent Figures

Official armed forces most recently revised data on custodial deaths for May 2024, and detention administration in September 2024. Investigators documented another 35 casualties in detention after these dates and confirmed them with Israeli authorities.

Even with the overall count of deaths recorded being much greater than previous assessments, it likely omits the entire scope of losses among Palestinians, as stated by the head of the prisoners and detainees department.

“Even though we are offering documentation for a higher number of fatalities than once estimated, this is not the entire story,” he explained. “We are certain that there are even now individuals who perished in confinement that we have not identified.”

Civilian Deaths

Restricted government records shows that the largest portion of incarcerated Palestinians from Gaza who lost their lives in prison were ordinary citizens, based on a related inquiry.

In May of 2024, a defense forces registry tracking all militants in Gaza, a roster of in excess of 47,000 listed people, listed only 21 fatalities in custody. At that time, 65 Gazans from Gaza had perished in detention.

Detention Conditions

Assault, mistreatment, and further cruelty of Palestinians has been normalised across Israel’s detention facilities during 24 months of war. Top government figures have publicly referenced starvation rations and an underground jail holding Palestinian individuals who are denied sunlight.

Current and former detainees and insiders from the defense forces have uniformly asserted routine infractions of human rights protocols.

Institutionalized Cruelty

The systematic abuse occurred alongside a disturbing rise in casualties recorded across a minimum of 12 detention centers in Israel. During the previous decade prior to the conflict, there were on average several deaths a year.

“This is not only a single occurrence sporadically. It is systemic and it will continue,” a representative stated, partially because there is a environment of near total impunity for killing and mistreating Palestinian individuals.

Merely one incident of attacking prisoners has reached litigation, with the military personnel sentenced to seven months. An effort to try other suspects over a severe beating featuring sexual violence led to public rallies and the arrest of Israel’s top military lawyer, with the suspects 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 detained,” the representative noted. “There have been no indictments over any death.

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

Notable Incidents

Certain fatalities in custody have been publicly known, such as a senior medical chief who died in prison after a third of a year in detention.

A prisoner incarcerated with the deceased testified that he was led to the courtyard by prison staff just prior to his demise, obviously hurt and exposed from the waist down. His remains has not been returned to Gaza.

Additional detainees who perished in confinement by Israeli authorities remain anonymous. Correctional authorities and military provided investigators with the total of fatalities in detention, and minimal other details including the location where they died, but not the inmates’ personal details.

Documentation Problems

For 21 instances, mainly detainees from Gaza, analysts were not able to correlate the minimal data supplied by officials to a death documented by human rights groups, by means of accounts from freed prisoners or coverage in the news outlets.

The detainees’ families might not have learned about their loved ones’ deaths as well, as Israel has made it difficult to track Palestinians it is confining. For seven months at the start of the hostilities, the defense forces refused to supply basic information about the whereabouts of numerous of persons confined in Gaza, effectively carrying out a policy of forced disappearance, according to the human rights group.

Limited Transparency

From May 2024, authorities have established an digital correspondence for inquiries about detainees from Gaza, but this has led to just a partial and limited enhancement. Analysts noted|observed|commented on