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Based on information provided by Israel, at least 98 Palestinians have lost their lives while in custody starting from October 2023. A human rights group located in Israel has indicated that the true toll is likely considerably greater, as a result of numerous of unaccounted for people originating in Gaza.

Report Findings

A new investigation recorded fatalities caused by physical violence, lack of healthcare, and inadequate nutrition. Analysts utilized official data requests, autopsy findings, and interviews with lawyers, advocates, relatives, and witnesses.

Israeli authorities disclosed complete data solely covering the first eight months of the hostilities. Throughout these months, government statistics indicate an record fatality rate among Palestinian prisoners, equating to a life lost each 96 hours.

Latest Data

The military most recently revised data on detention fatalities for May 2024, and the prison service during September 2024. Investigators discovered an additional 35 casualties in confinement after these dates and validated them with official sources.

Despite the total number of deaths recorded being significantly higher than earlier projections, it probably does not reflect the entire scope of Palestinian casualties, according to the leader of the prisoner monitoring division.

“Even though we are presenting proof for a higher number of fatalities than previously reported, this is not the entire story,” he said. “We are confident that there are even now detainees who died in confinement that we have not identified.”

Non-Combatant Fatalities

Classified Israeli data indicates that the majority of incarcerated Palestinians from Gaza who died in prison were non-combatants, per a parallel examination.

During May of 2024, a defense forces registry following all fighters in Gaza, a list of more than 47,000 listed people, recorded only 21 casualties in detention. By that date, 65 Palestinians from Gaza had died in prison.

Custodial Environment

Physical violence, torture, and further cruelty of detainees from Palestine has become routine across Israel’s detention facilities during two years of hostilities. Top government figures have publicly referenced starvation rations and an underground jail confining detainees who never see daylight.

Present and past detainees and informants from the armed services have all alleged routine infractions of global standards.

Institutionalized Cruelty

The systematic abuse came with a alarming increase in casualties documented across a minimum of 12 civilian and military facilities in Israel. Over ten years before the conflict, there were on average several deaths a year.

“This isn’t just an individual case sporadically. It is institutional and it is expected to endure,” a representative commented, in part due to the fact there is a environment of near total impunity for fatalities and maltreatment of Palestinians.

Only a single instance of beating prisoners has proceeded to court, with the service member sentenced to 210 days. An attempt to charge others over a vicious assault including assault caused right-wing protests and the detention of Israel’s senior defense attorney, with the alleged perpetrators now demanding that allegations against them be withdrawn.

Absence of Consequences

“Regardless of this large quantity of casualties, during 24 months no one has been arrested,” the representative noted. “There exist no indictments over any fatality.

“While these practices are being applied, each Palestinian individual in detention is in danger, also the physically well individuals, including the juveniles who have no health problems.”

High-Profile Cases

Several casualties in confinement have been high profile, such as a senior healthcare leader who perished in prison after 120 days in custody.

A detainee held with the deceased reported that he was brought to the exercise area by guards immediately preceding his demise, obviously hurt and naked from the waist down. His corpse has not been returned to Gaza.

Additional detainees who died in confinement by Israeli authorities are unidentified. The prison service and military gave analysts with the figure of fatalities in confinement, and limited additional information including the site where they perished, but excluding the prisoners’ names.

Identification Challenges

Regarding 21 occurrences, mainly individuals from Gaza, investigators could not to match the minimal data given by authorities to a fatality registered by rights organisations, by means of accounts from released detainees or reporting in the news outlets.

The inmates’ next of kin may not know about their family members’ fatalities either, as Israel has made it difficult to monitor detainees it is confining. During 210 days at the start of the conflict, the armed services refused to supply essential data about the whereabouts of thousands of individuals held in Gaza, in effect carrying out a policy of involuntary missing persons, per the rights monitoring body.

Insufficient Disclosure

Starting in May 2024, authorities have provided an email address for inquiries about detainees from Gaza, but this has led to just a modest and inadequate betterment. Analysts noted|observed|commented on