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Based on data released by Israel, at least 98 detainees from Palestine have died while detained since October 2023. A human rights group based in Israel has indicated that the real toll is probably considerably higher, because of hundreds of disappeared people in Gaza.

Report Findings

A new investigation documented fatalities attributed to physical violence, failure to provide medical care, and malnutrition. Researchers utilized transparency petitions, forensic reports, and testimonies with legal representatives, human rights defenders, next of kin, and observers.

Israeli authorities disclosed comprehensive data solely covering the initial 240 days of the war. During this time, official figures reveal an historically high death toll among Palestinian detainees, amounting to a single fatality every four days.

Latest Data

The military finalized records on deaths in detention for May 2024, and correctional authorities during September 2024. Analysts documented a further 35 deaths in custody after these dates and confirmed them with official sources.

Even with the aggregate figure of deaths documented being much greater than previous assessments, it almost certainly fails to capture the entire scope of Palestinian casualties, as stated by the director of the prisoners and detainees department.

“Even though we are presenting proof for a higher number of deaths than once estimated, this is not the entire story,” he stated. “We are sure that there are still people who lost their lives in custody that we are unaware of.”

Non-Combatant Fatalities

Restricted government records shows that the largest portion of Palestinian prisoners from Gaza who lost their lives in jail were ordinary citizens, per a parallel inquiry.

In May of 2024, a armed services record following all combatants in Gaza, a roster of in excess of 47,000 named individuals, documented only 21 casualties in custody. By that point, 65 individuals from Palestine from Gaza had died in detention.

Custodial Environment

Brutality, mistreatment, and further cruelty of Palestinian individuals has become routine across Israel’s detention facilities throughout the duration of hostilities. Top government figures have openly admitted inadequate food and an below-ground detention center confining Palestinians who are denied sunlight.

Present and past detainees and insiders from the armed services have all alleged widespread breaches of human rights protocols.

Systemic Abuse

The institutionalised cruelty was accompanied by a alarming increase in deaths registered across a minimum of 12 prison sites in Israel. During the previous decade preceding the war, there were typically several casualties a year.

“This isn’t only a single occurrence occasionally. It is institutional and it is likely to persist,” an official said, partly because there is a environment of virtual exemption from consequences for fatalities and maltreatment of detainees.

Just one case of assaulting inmates has reached litigation, with the soldier sentenced to 210 days. An effort to charge other suspects over a vicious assault including abuse resulted in right-wing protests and the arrest of Israel’s top military lawyer, with the alleged perpetrators now demanding that allegations against them be dismissed.

Lack of Accountability

“Regardless of this large quantity of deaths, during 24 months not one individual has been arrested,” the official noted. “There exist no charges over any death.

“As long as these policies continue to be enforced, each Palestinian individual in custody faces risk, also the those in good health, even the juveniles who have no underlying conditions.”

High-Profile Cases

Some deaths in confinement have been widely reported, for instance a senior medical chief who died in confinement after 120 days in confinement.

An inmate detained alongside the deceased stated that he was led to the courtyard by guards just prior to his demise, obviously hurt and unclothed from the hips downward. His remains has not been repatriated to Gaza.

Other prisoners who perished in confinement by Israeli authorities are unidentified. Correctional authorities and armed services provided investigators with the number of deaths in custody, and basic other details including the location where they died, but not the detainees’ identities.

Identification Challenges

Regarding 21 occurrences, mainly people from Gaza, investigators could not to match the minimal data supplied by officials to a casualty registered by rights organisations, via testimony from former inmates or reporting in the news outlets.

The detainees’ families could be unaware about their relatives’ casualties either, as Israel has created obstacles to locate detainees it is detaining. For seven months at the beginning of the conflict, the defense forces refused to give basic information about the status of thousands of people held in Gaza, practically implementing a policy of unacknowledged detention, as stated by the rights monitoring body.

Limited Transparency

From May 2024, officials have established an digital correspondence for inquiries about Palestinians from Gaza, but this has led to just a incomplete and restricted enhancement. Researchers noted|observed|commented on