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Per figures provided by Israel, no fewer than 98 Palestinian individuals have died while in custody starting from October 2023. An advocacy organization based in Israel has indicated that the true number is likely considerably larger, as a result of numerous of missing detainees originating in Gaza.

Study Results

An updated study documented deaths attributed to physical violence, failure to provide medical care, and starvation. Investigators used official data requests, medical examiner documents, and interviews with attorneys, advocates, family members, and witnesses.

Government bodies released comprehensive information limited to the first eight months of the hostilities. Throughout these months, reported numbers reveal an historically high death toll among detained Palestinians, equating to a single fatality each 96 hours.

Updated Statistics

The military last updated information on detention fatalities for May 2024, and correctional authorities during September 2024. Investigators identified a further 35 fatalities in custody following these dates and validated them with Israeli authorities.

Even with the total number of deaths charted being much greater than earlier projections, it likely does not reflect the full scale of losses among Palestinians, as stated by the head of the prisoners and detainees department.

“Although we are providing evidence for a higher number of fatalities than once estimated, this is not the entire story,” he said. “We are sure that there are even now detainees who died in confinement that we have not identified.”

Civilian Casualties

Restricted Israeli data suggests that the majority of Palestinian detainees from Gaza who perished in jail were ordinary citizens, per a related investigation.

During May of the current year, a military intelligence database monitoring all militants in Gaza, a list of over 47,000 named individuals, listed just 21 deaths in confinement. By that point, 65 Palestinians from Gaza had died in jail.

Prison Situation

Physical violence, mistreatment, and additional maltreatment of detainees from Palestine has become routine across Israel’s jail system over two years of hostilities. Senior officials have openly admitted starvation rations and an below-ground detention center confining Palestinian individuals who are denied sunlight.

Existing and previous detainees and whistleblowers from the armed services have all alleged widespread breaches of international law.

Systemic Abuse

The systematic abuse was accompanied by a disturbing rise in deaths registered across no fewer than 12 prison sites in Israel. Over ten years preceding the war, there were usually a couple deaths a year.

“This is not just an individual case sporadically. It is widespread and it is expected to endure,” a representative stated, in part since there is a climate of virtual exemption from consequences for fatalities and maltreatment of Palestinian individuals.

Merely one incident of attacking prisoners has come to trial, with the soldier given a penalty to half a year. An attempt to charge others over a vicious assault featuring sexual violence led to political demonstrations and the detention of Israel’s top military lawyer, with the suspects now demanding that allegations against them are dropped.

No Legal Action

“Despite this mass number of deaths, over two years not a single person has been detained,” the spokesperson noted. “There have been no indictments over any fatality.

“During the time these policies continue to be enforced, each Palestinian individual in detention faces risk, including the physically well individuals, also the juveniles who have no underlying conditions.”

Prominent Examples

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

A detainee incarcerated with the deceased testified that he was taken to the courtyard by prison staff shortly before his demise, visibly injured and exposed from the waist down. His body has not been returned to Gaza.

Other prisoners who perished in Israeli custody remain anonymous. The prison service and military supplied researchers with the number of casualties in confinement, and minimal further data for example the location where they died, but not the prisoners’ names.

Recognition Difficulties

Regarding 21 occurrences, mainly individuals from Gaza, investigators could not to match the limited information supplied by officials to a casualty registered by advocacy bodies, via testimony from freed prisoners or accounts in the media.

The prisoners’ relatives could be unaware about their family members’ fatalities also, as Israel has made it difficult to track Palestinian individuals it is confining. During 210 days at the beginning of the conflict, the defense forces refused to supply essential data about the whereabouts of numerous of individuals confined in Gaza, practically carrying out a practice of involuntary missing persons, as stated by the rights monitoring body.

Restricted Access

Beginning last May, authorities have provided an digital correspondence for inquiries about detainees from Gaza, but this has led to just a incomplete and restricted enhancement. Analysts noted|observed|commented on