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According to figures from Israel, a minimum of 98 Palestinian individuals have died during detention since October 2023. A rights monitoring body based in Israel has indicated that the actual toll is likely significantly greater, because of many of unaccounted for detainees from Gaza.

Investigation Outcomes

A new investigation tracked casualties resulting from assault, lack of healthcare, and starvation. Investigators used official data requests, forensic reports, and testimonies with attorneys, advocates, family members, and witnesses.

Official sources disclosed complete statistics limited to the initial 240 days of the hostilities. During this time, government statistics show an unprecedented death toll among Palestinian prisoners, amounting to one death every four days.

Updated Statistics

Israeli defense forces finalized information on deaths in detention for May 2024, and correctional authorities by September 2024. Analysts documented a further 35 fatalities in custody subsequent to these periods and verified them with official sources.

Despite the aggregate figure of deaths charted being substantially larger than other recent estimates, it almost certainly does not reflect the full scale of losses among Palestinians, per the head of the prisoner monitoring division.

“Although we are providing evidence for a higher number of fatalities than once estimated, this is not a full picture,” he stated. “We are certain that there are still detainees who lost their lives in detention that we have not identified.”

Non-Combatant Fatalities

Classified Israeli data indicates that the majority of Palestinian prisoners from Gaza who perished in prison were non-combatants, per a parallel investigation.

In May of this year, a defense forces registry monitoring all combatants in Gaza, a list of more than 47,000 listed people, recorded merely 21 casualties in confinement. By that point, 65 Gazans from Gaza had perished in prison.

Prison Situation

Physical violence, abuse, and other abuse of Palestinians is now standard practice across Israel’s prison network during 24 months of hostilities. High-ranking authorities have publicly acknowledged starvation rations and an subterranean prison holding Palestinians who are kept in darkness.

Present and past inmates and whistleblowers from the armed services have all alleged routine infractions of international law.

Institutionalized Cruelty

The systematic abuse came with a disturbing rise in casualties recorded across no fewer than 12 prison sites in Israel. In the decade before the hostilities, there were usually several casualties a year.

“This does not represent just an individual case sporadically. It is systemic and it will continue,” a representative said, in part since there is a culture of virtual exemption from consequences for fatalities and maltreatment of detainees.

Only a single instance of attacking inmates has reached litigation, with the soldier given a penalty to half a year. An attempt to charge others over a vicious assault including assault caused right-wing protests and the detention of Israel’s top military lawyer, with the suspects now insisting that charges against them be dismissed.

Absence of Consequences

“Regardless of this large quantity of casualties, throughout the conflict no one has been detained,” the representative noted. “There exist no charges over any fatality.

“While these policies continue to be enforced, every Palestinian in detention is in danger, also the physically well individuals, including the juveniles who have no underlying conditions.”

Prominent Examples

Some deaths in custody have been high profile, for instance a middle-aged medical chief who died in prison after 120 days in custody.

An inmate detained alongside the individual testified that he was led to the exercise area by guards immediately preceding his passing, obviously hurt and naked from the lower body. His remains has not been returned to Gaza.

Further inmates who perished in confinement by Israeli authorities are unidentified. The prison service and armed services supplied investigators with the number of deaths in custody, and limited further data such as the facility where they died, but without the detainees’ identities.

Recognition Difficulties

In 21 cases, mostly individuals from Gaza, investigators were unable to match the limited information provided by officials to a death recorded by advocacy bodies, via statements from released detainees or reporting in the media.

The inmates’ next of kin may not know about their relatives’ casualties either, as Israel has impeded efforts to track detainees it is confining. During 210 days at the outset of the war, the defense forces refused to supply basic information about the condition of thousands of persons confined in Gaza, effectively carrying out a policy of involuntary missing persons, according to the rights monitoring body.

Insufficient Disclosure

Beginning last May, authorities have provided an email address for inquiries about detainees from Gaza, but this has resulted in merely a partial and limited betterment. Analysts noted|observed|commented on