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Based on figures provided by Israel, at least 98 Palestinians have died while detained starting from October 2023. A human rights group based in Israel has reported that the true number is probably substantially higher, due to hundreds of unaccounted for detainees from Gaza.

Study Results

An updated study recorded deaths resulting from physical violence, medical neglect, and malnutrition. Analysts employed freedom of information requests, autopsy findings, and testimonies with lawyers, advocates, next of kin, and witnesses.

Israeli authorities disclosed comprehensive data solely covering the opening period of the hostilities. Over this period, official figures reveal an record death toll among Palestinian prisoners, equating to a single fatality once every four-day period.

Latest Data

The military most recently revised information on detention fatalities for May 2024, and correctional authorities in September 2024. Investigators documented a further 35 fatalities in confinement following these dates and confirmed them with official sources.

Even with the aggregate figure of casualties recorded being substantially larger than previous assessments, it likely fails to capture the entire scope of losses among Palestinians, per the director of the detainee affairs unit.

“While we are offering documentation for a higher number of fatalities than earlier indicated, this is not a full picture,” he explained. “We are certain that there are still people who lost their lives in custody that we have not identified.”

Civilian Casualties

Confidential Israeli data shows that the majority of Palestinian detainees from Gaza who lost their lives in detention were civilians, per a related inquiry.

During May of this year, a defense forces registry monitoring all fighters in Gaza, a roster of in excess of 47,000 listed people, documented merely 21 deaths in detention. At that time, 65 Palestinians from Gaza had perished in jail.

Custodial Environment

Assault, mistreatment, and other abuse of Palestinian individuals is now standard practice across Israel’s prison network over two years of war. Senior officials have openly admitted minimal sustenance and an below-ground detention center detaining detainees who never see daylight.

Present and past inmates and whistleblowers from the Israeli military have uniformly asserted systemic violations of international law.

Organized Maltreatment

The systematic abuse occurred alongside a disturbing rise in deaths documented across no fewer than 12 civilian and military facilities in Israel. Over ten years preceding the hostilities, there were usually a couple casualties a year.

“This isn’t just an individual case occasionally. It is systemic and it is likely to persist,” a representative said, partly because there is a environment of near total impunity for fatalities and maltreatment of Palestinian individuals.

Only a single instance of assaulting inmates has reached litigation, with the military personnel handed a punishment to seven months. An effort to try additional individuals over a severe beating including sexual violence led to political demonstrations and the apprehension of Israel’s senior defense attorney, with the accused individuals now demanding that indictments against them be withdrawn.

Absence of Consequences

“In spite of this large quantity of deaths, throughout the conflict no one has been detained,” the representative stated. “There have been no charges over any killing.

“As long as these measures remain in effect, all Palestinian detainees in detention is in danger, including the physically well individuals, including the youth who have no health problems.”

Notable Incidents

Several casualties in custody have been high profile, such as a senior healthcare leader who died in detention after a third of a year in detention.

A detainee incarcerated with the victim reported that he was taken to the exercise area by guards immediately preceding his death, clearly wounded and naked from the lower body. His body has not been repatriated to Gaza.

Further inmates who lost their lives in Israeli custody are unidentified. The prison service and armed services provided researchers with the figure of fatalities in custody, and minimal additional information including the site where they lost their lives, but excluding the detainees’ identities.

Recognition Difficulties

For 21 instances, primarily people from Gaza, researchers were unable to connect the few details provided by government bodies to a fatality documented by advocacy bodies, either through accounts from released detainees or reporting in the news outlets.

The detainees’ families might not have learned about their family members’ fatalities either, as Israel has created obstacles to track detainees it is detaining. For seven months at the beginning of the hostilities, the defense forces refused to provide basic information about the whereabouts of numerous of persons detained in Gaza, in effect enacting a policy of forced disappearance, per the advocacy organization.

Insufficient Disclosure

From May 2024, government bodies have provided an email address for enquiries about detainees from Gaza, but this has provided only a incomplete and restricted betterment. Investigators noted|observed|commented on