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According to data released by Israel, at least 98 Palestinians have died while detained since October 2023. A human rights group based in Israel has stated that the true number is almost certainly significantly greater, because of numerous of missing detainees originating in Gaza.

Investigation Outcomes

A new investigation tracked fatalities caused by assault, lack of healthcare, and starvation. Analysts employed transparency petitions, autopsy findings, and discussions with lawyers, activists, next of kin, and eyewitnesses.

Government bodies released complete statistics solely covering the first eight months of the hostilities. Throughout these months, official figures indicate an unprecedented casualty rate among detained Palestinians, amounting to a single fatality each 96 hours.

Latest Data

Israeli defense forces most recently revised records on deaths in detention for May 2024, and the prison service during September 2024. Investigators documented another 35 fatalities in detention after these dates and confirmed them with Israeli authorities.

Despite the overall count of deaths recorded being significantly higher than other recent estimates, it likely omits the full scale of losses among Palestinians, per the head of the prisoner monitoring division.

“Even though we are presenting proof for a greater figure of casualties than earlier indicated, this is an incomplete account,” he said. “We are confident that there are yet people who perished in confinement that we are unaware of.”

Civilian Casualties

Confidential government records shows that the vast majority of Palestinian detainees from Gaza who lost their lives in jail were civilians, per a simultaneous examination.

During May of this year, a military intelligence database tracking all fighters in Gaza, a roster of over 47,000 listed people, recorded just 21 fatalities in custody. By that date, 65 individuals from Palestine from Gaza had perished in detention.

Custodial Environment

Brutality, mistreatment, and further cruelty of Palestinian individuals has been normalised across Israel’s detention facilities over 24 months of war. Senior officials have openly admitted inadequate food and an subterranean prison confining Palestinian individuals who are kept in darkness.

Present and past detainees and whistleblowers from the Israeli military have uniformly asserted routine infractions of international law.

Organized Maltreatment

The institutionalised cruelty occurred alongside a troubling surge in fatalities recorded across a minimum of 12 prison sites in Israel. In the decade prior to the war, there were usually a couple fatalities a year.

“This does not represent only a single occurrence here and there. It is systemic and it will continue,” a representative stated, partly because there is a culture of virtual exemption from consequences for harming and abusing detainees.

Just one case of assaulting inmates has proceeded to court, with the soldier given a penalty to half a year. An effort to charge others over a severe beating including sexual violence led to political demonstrations and the detention of Israel’s chief legal officer, with the alleged perpetrators now demanding that charges against them are dropped.

Lack of Accountability

“Regardless of this significant total of casualties, over two years no one has been arrested,” the representative noted. “There are no charges over any killing.

“During the time these policies are being applied, every Palestinian in detention is in danger, including the those in good health, even the juveniles who have no medical issues.”

Notable Incidents

Some deaths in custody have been publicly known, for instance a middle-aged healthcare leader who died in detention after four months in confinement.

An inmate held with the individual testified that he was brought to the yard by correctional officers shortly before his death, obviously hurt and unclothed from the lower body. His remains has not been repatriated to Gaza.

Additional detainees who perished in confinement by Israeli authorities are unidentified. Correctional authorities and military supplied investigators with the total of casualties in confinement, and limited other details such as the location where they lost their lives, but not the detainees’ identities.

Recognition Difficulties

Regarding 21 occurrences, primarily people from Gaza, investigators were unable to correlate the few details provided by authorities to a death recorded by advocacy bodies, via statements from former inmates or reporting in the news outlets.

The inmates’ next of kin may not know about their relatives’ casualties as well, as Israel has created obstacles to monitor detainees it is holding. Over half a year at the beginning of the conflict, the Israeli military refused to supply essential data about the condition of many of persons held in Gaza, in effect carrying out a practice of forced disappearance, per the advocacy organization.

Insufficient Disclosure

Starting in May 2024, authorities have created an electronic contact for inquiries about detainees from Gaza, but this has led to just a modest and inadequate improvement. Investigators noted|observed|commented on