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According to information released by Israel, a minimum of 98 detainees from Palestine have died during detention since October 2023. An advocacy organization based in Israel has stated that the actual figure is likely substantially higher, because of hundreds of missing people in Gaza.

Study Results

A recent report tracked fatalities caused by brutality, lack of healthcare, and starvation. Researchers employed freedom of information requests, medical examiner documents, and testimonies with attorneys, human rights defenders, relatives, and eyewitnesses.

Israeli authorities disclosed detailed information only for the opening period of the war. During this time, reported numbers reveal an unprecedented death toll among detained Palestinians, averaging a single fatality each 96 hours.

Recent Figures

The military finalized data on detention fatalities for May 2024, and correctional authorities in September 2024. Researchers documented another 35 casualties in custody following these dates and confirmed them with Israeli authorities.

Even with the overall count of casualties documented being significantly higher than previous assessments, it likely fails to capture the full scale of Palestinian loss, according to the head of the detainee affairs unit.

“Although we are offering documentation for a higher number of deaths than previously reported, this is an incomplete account,” he said. “We are sure that there are yet individuals who lost their lives in detention that we don’t know about.”

Civilian Deaths

Classified Israeli data indicates that the majority of Palestinian prisoners from Gaza who lost their lives in detention were ordinary citizens, per a simultaneous examination.

In May of 2024, a armed services record following all fighters in Gaza, a registry of more than 47,000 listed people, documented merely 21 casualties in custody. At that time, 65 Gazans from Gaza had died in detention.

Prison Situation

Physical violence, abuse, and additional maltreatment of detainees from Palestine is now standard practice across Israel’s detention facilities over two years of conflict. High-ranking authorities have openly admitted inadequate food and an below-ground detention center detaining Palestinian individuals who are denied sunlight.

Existing and previous inmates and whistleblowers from the defense forces have all alleged systemic violations of global standards.

Organized Maltreatment

The organized mistreatment came with a disturbing rise in deaths recorded across a minimum of 12 civilian and military facilities in Israel. In the decade before the hostilities, there were typically a couple fatalities a year.

“This isn’t merely an isolated incident occasionally. It is systemic and it will continue,” a spokesperson said, in part since there is a climate of near total impunity for harming and abusing Palestinian individuals.

Only a single instance of beating prisoners has reached litigation, with the soldier sentenced to half a year. A endeavor to prosecute other suspects over a severe beating featuring sexual violence resulted in political demonstrations and the detention of Israel’s chief legal officer, with the alleged perpetrators now requesting that indictments against them be withdrawn.

Absence of Consequences

“In spite of this significant total of casualties, during 24 months no one has been detained,” the representative said. “There have been no prosecutions over any killing.

“During the time these practices are being applied, every Palestinian in detention is in danger, also the those in good health, including the young ones who have no health problems.”

Notable Incidents

Some deaths in custody have been widely reported, such as a senior hospital director who lost his life in confinement after 120 days in detention.

A detainee detained alongside the deceased testified that he was brought to the courtyard by correctional officers shortly before his death, visibly injured and exposed from the hips downward. His remains has not been repatriated to Gaza.

Additional detainees who died in confinement by Israeli authorities are unidentified. Correctional authorities and defense forces gave analysts with the figure of fatalities in custody, and limited additional information such as the facility where they lost their lives, but without the prisoners’ names.

Documentation Problems

In 21 cases, mostly detainees from Gaza, investigators were unable to correlate the limited information given by authorities to a fatality documented by advocacy bodies, either through testimony from released detainees or coverage in the press.

The prisoners’ relatives could be unaware about their loved ones’ deaths also, as Israel has made it difficult to track Palestinians it is detaining. For seven months at the start of the hostilities, the defense forces would not provide to provide fundamental details about the status of many of individuals held in Gaza, effectively enacting a policy of involuntary missing persons, according to the advocacy organization.

Restricted Access

Starting in May 2024, government bodies have provided an electronic contact for enquiries about Palestinian individuals from Gaza, but this has resulted in merely a partial and limited betterment. Investigators noted|observed|commented on