A Minimum of 98 Palestinian Detainees Have Died in Israeli Custody Beginning in October 2023, Israeli Data Shows

Based on data provided by Israel, at least 98 Palestinian individuals have lost their lives while detained beginning in October 2023. A rights monitoring body operating from Israel has indicated that the true toll is likely substantially larger, as a result of many of unaccounted for people in Gaza.

Report Findings

A new investigation documented casualties attributed to assault, failure to provide medical care, and malnutrition. Researchers used freedom of information requests, medical examiner documents, and discussions with lawyers, activists, relatives, and witnesses.

Israeli authorities disclosed complete information limited to the initial 240 days of the conflict. Over this period, reported numbers show an historically high fatality rate among Palestinian prisoners, averaging one death once every four-day period.

Updated Statistics

Israeli defense forces last updated data on custodial deaths for May 2024, and correctional authorities by September 2024. Analysts discovered a further 35 casualties in custody following these periods and confirmed them with government bodies.

Despite the total number of fatalities recorded being much greater than earlier projections, it almost certainly fails to capture the complete extent of losses among Palestinians, according to the director of the prisoners and detainees department.

“While we are offering documentation for a greater figure of fatalities than earlier indicated, this is an incomplete account,” he stated. “We are confident that there are yet people who died in confinement that we have not identified.”

Civilian Deaths

Classified government records indicates that the largest portion of Palestinian detainees from Gaza who lost their lives in prison were civilians, per a parallel inquiry.

By May of 2024, a armed services record monitoring all fighters in Gaza, a list of over 47,000 named individuals, documented only 21 deaths in detention. By that point, 65 individuals from Palestine from Gaza had lost their lives in jail.

Detention Conditions

Assault, torture, and other abuse of Palestinians is now standard practice across Israel’s jail system over two years of war. Top government figures have openly admitted inadequate food and an subterranean prison holding Palestinian individuals who never see daylight.

Current and former detainees and informants from the Israeli military have all alleged routine infractions of international law.

Systemic Abuse

The organized mistreatment occurred alongside a troubling surge in fatalities recorded across no fewer than 12 detention centers in Israel. During the previous decade prior to the hostilities, there were usually a couple fatalities a year.

“This is not only a single occurrence here and there. It is systemic and it will continue,” a representative commented, partly since there is a environment of virtual exemption from consequences for harming and abusing detainees.

Only a single instance of beating inmates has proceeded to court, with the soldier handed a punishment to 210 days. A endeavor to prosecute others over a vicious assault including abuse resulted in political demonstrations and the detention of Israel’s chief legal officer, with the suspects now requesting that allegations against them be dismissed.

Absence of Consequences

“Despite this significant total of fatalities, during 24 months not a single person has been arrested,” the spokesperson said. “There are no prosecutions over any fatality.

“As long as these policies continue to be enforced, each Palestinian individual in confinement is at peril, even the healthy ones, also the youth who have no health problems.”

High-Profile Cases

Certain fatalities in confinement have been widely reported, including a middle-aged healthcare leader who lost his life in confinement after a third of a year in detention.

A detainee held with the individual reported that he was taken to the exercise area by guards shortly before his demise, visibly injured and unclothed from the hips downward. His remains has not been repatriated to Gaza.

Additional detainees who perished in Israeli custody remain anonymous. Detention administrators and armed services provided analysts with the total of casualties in custody, and basic further data including the facility where they died, but not the detainees’ identities.

Identification Challenges

Regarding 21 occurrences, mainly individuals from Gaza, analysts were unable to connect the limited information supplied by officials to a fatality documented by human rights groups, via statements from released detainees or reporting in the media.

The prisoners’ relatives could be unaware about their family members’ fatalities either, as Israel has made it difficult to monitor Palestinian individuals it is holding. Over half a year at the outset of the hostilities, the armed services refused to provide essential data about the condition of thousands of people held in Gaza, effectively implementing a practice of unacknowledged detention, per the advocacy organization.

Limited Transparency

Starting in May 2024, officials have created an digital correspondence for enquiries about Palestinian individuals from Gaza, but this has provided only a partial and limited betterment. Researchers noted|observed|commented on