Ahmed Kamel – Egypt Daily News
New data indicate that at least 98 Palestinians have died while in Israeli detention since October 2023, though the actual number is believed to be significantly higher, as hundreds of detainees from Gaza remain unaccounted for. The findings come from the Israeli organization Physicians for Human Rights, which has been tracking deaths caused by physical violence, medical neglect, and malnutrition, compiling its report through freedom of information requests, forensic reports, and interviews with lawyers, activists, relatives, and witnesses.
Israeli authorities have only released comprehensive data for the first eight months of the ongoing conflict. During that period, official figures revealed an unprecedented mortality rate among Palestinian detainees, averaging one death every four days. Updates provided by the Israeli army in May 2024 and the Israeli Prison Service in September 2024 have since been supplemented by the organization’s identification of 35 additional deaths. These have been confirmed to Israeli authorities but are unlikely to capture the full scale of Palestinian losses.
“While we are presenting evidence of a higher number of deaths than previously reported, this is not the complete picture,” said Naji Abbas, director of the Prisoners and Detainees Department at Physicians for Human Rights. “We are confident that people continue to die in detention without our knowledge.”
Confidential Israeli data suggest that most Palestinian detainees from Gaza who have died in custody were civilians. Investigations by The Guardian, the Israeli-Palestinian magazine 972, and the Hebrew-language site Local Call confirm these findings. As of May 2024, a military intelligence database tracking all Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad fighters in Gaza listed over 47,000 names but recorded only 21 deaths in detention. By that point, 65 Palestinians from Gaza had reportedly died in custody.
Deaths in detention include “security prisoners,” a category encompassing civilians from Gaza held without charge or trial, as well as West Bank political prisoners. Three of the deceased were Palestinian citizens or residents of Israel.
Reports indicate that physical violence, torture, and other abuses have become routine across Israel’s detention system during the two years of war. Right-wing Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has publicly endorsed punitive practices such as deprivation of sunlight and underground confinement for detainees. This systemic harshness has coincided with a sharp rise in recorded deaths at a minimum of 12 civilian and military detention facilities. By contrast, the decade preceding the war saw an annual average of only two to three deaths.
“These are not isolated cases, but part of a systematic pattern that is likely to continue,” Abbas said, attributing the trend in part to near-total impunity for the killing and mistreatment of Palestinians. Only one case of detainee abuse has resulted in a conviction—a soldier sentenced to seven months in prison—while attempts to prosecute others for brutal assaults, including sexual violence, triggered right-wing protests and led to the arrest of a senior military lawyer, with charges now facing dismissal.
Despite the high number of deaths, no one has been held accountable over the past two years, Abbas said. The fate of several detainees who died in Israeli prisons remains unknown.
The Israeli army maintains that it operates “in accordance with Israeli and international law” and monitors deaths among detainees, including those with pre-existing medical conditions or injuries “resulting from hostile actions.” A statement from the army noted that “standard protocol requires that every detainee death is investigated by the military police,” while the Prison Service asserted that it reviews every death “and refers cases to the relevant authorities as necessary.” The service denied that the reported allegations reflect its practices.
As the conflict continues, human rights groups warn that the official figures likely underrepresent the true human toll of detention, painting a stark picture of the risks faced by Palestinians held in Israeli custody.
