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Based on figures from Israel, a minimum of 98 detainees from Palestine have perished during detention since October 2023. An advocacy organization based in Israel has reported that the real number is almost certainly substantially greater, because of hundreds of missing people from Gaza.

Report Findings

An updated study recorded casualties caused by assault, medical neglect, and starvation. Analysts utilized official data requests, autopsy findings, and discussions with attorneys, human rights defenders, next of kin, and witnesses.

Israeli authorities released comprehensive statistics limited to the first eight months of the war. Over this period, reported numbers show an record casualty rate among Palestinian prisoners, averaging a single fatality every four days.

Updated Statistics

Israeli defense forces finalized records on deaths in detention for May 2024, and correctional authorities by September 2024. Investigators discovered a further 35 casualties in detention subsequent to these dates and confirmed them with Israeli authorities.

Even with the aggregate figure of deaths recorded 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 deaths than previously reported, this is not the entire story,” he said. “We are confident that there are still detainees who perished in detention that we have not identified.”

Civilian Casualties

Restricted Israeli data indicates that the vast majority of Palestinian detainees from Gaza who perished in detention were non-combatants, per a parallel investigation.

During May of the current year, a military intelligence database monitoring all militants in Gaza, a list of over 47,000 identified persons, documented just 21 fatalities in custody. At that time, 65 individuals from Palestine from Gaza had died in prison.

Custodial Environment

Assault, abuse, and other abuse of detainees from Palestine is now standard practice across Israel’s detention facilities throughout 24 months of war. Senior officials have publicly acknowledged starvation rations and an subterranean prison holding detainees who are kept in darkness.

Present and past detainees and informants from the defense forces have all alleged widespread breaches of global standards.

Systemic Abuse

The systematic abuse was accompanied by a troubling surge in casualties registered across at least 12 detention centers in Israel. During the previous decade prior to the conflict, there were on average several deaths a year.

“This does not represent only a single occurrence here and there. It is systemic and it is expected to endure,” a representative said, partly because there is a environment of near total impunity for harming and abusing Palestinians.

Just one case of beating detainees has reached litigation, with the military personnel sentenced to half a year. A endeavor to charge additional individuals over a severe beating including abuse caused right-wing protests and the detention of Israel’s top military lawyer, with the alleged perpetrators now requesting that indictments against them be dismissed.

Lack of Accountability

“In spite of this mass number of deaths, over two years no one has been detained,” the representative stated. “There have been no indictments over any killing.

“As long as these practices remain in effect, each Palestinian individual in confinement is in danger, even the physically well individuals, including the young ones who have no medical issues.”

High-Profile Cases

Several casualties in detention have been high profile, for instance a middle-aged hospital director who perished in prison after four months in detention.

An inmate held with the deceased stated that he was led to the courtyard by guards shortly before his demise, visibly injured and naked from the waist down. His remains has not been returned to Gaza.

Other prisoners who perished in confinement by Israeli authorities remain anonymous. The prison service and armed services provided analysts with the number of deaths in custody, and limited further data for example the site where they perished, but excluding the prisoners’ names.

Identification Challenges

Regarding 21 occurrences, mostly people from Gaza, analysts were not able to match the minimal data supplied by officials to a fatality registered by advocacy bodies, via accounts from released detainees or accounts in the news outlets.

The prisoners’ relatives might not have learned about their family members’ fatalities either, as Israel has created obstacles to monitor detainees it is confining. During 210 days at the outset of the hostilities, the armed services declined to give basic information about the condition of many of persons confined in Gaza, effectively implementing a approach of forced disappearance, per the human rights group.

Insufficient Disclosure

From May 2024, authorities have created an email address for enquiries about Palestinians from Gaza, but this has led to just a partial and limited enhancement. Investigators noted|observed|commented on