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According to figures released by Israel, no fewer than 98 Palestinians have lost their lives while detained since October 2023. A rights monitoring body located in Israel has stated that the true figure is probably significantly higher, as a result of many of missing detainees originating in Gaza.

Investigation Outcomes

A new investigation recorded casualties caused by physical violence, lack of healthcare, and malnutrition. Researchers utilized official data requests, forensic reports, and discussions with lawyers, activists, family members, and observers.

Government bodies released comprehensive statistics solely covering the initial 240 days of the war. Throughout these months, official figures reveal an record fatality rate among Palestinian prisoners, equating to a life lost once every four-day period.

Latest Data

Israeli defense forces most recently revised data on deaths in detention for May 2024, and the prison service during September 2024. Researchers identified a further 35 fatalities in detention following these dates and confirmed them with government bodies.

Despite the total number of fatalities recorded being significantly higher than earlier projections, it almost certainly omits the full scale of losses among Palestinians, as stated by the director of the detainee affairs unit.

“Although we are providing evidence for a greater figure of fatalities than previously reported, this is not a full picture,” he explained. “We are confident that there are still detainees who lost their lives in confinement that we have not identified.”

Non-Combatant Fatalities

Confidential Israeli data shows that the vast majority of incarcerated Palestinians from Gaza who lost their lives in prison were ordinary citizens, per a parallel inquiry.

In May of 2024, a armed services record following all fighters in Gaza, a registry of more than 47,000 named individuals, recorded just 21 fatalities in detention. By that point, 65 Gazans from Gaza had perished in jail.

Custodial Environment

Physical violence, torture, and other abuse of Palestinian individuals is now standard practice across Israel’s prison network during two years of conflict. Top government figures have publicly acknowledged starvation rations and an below-ground detention center holding detainees who are kept in darkness.

Current and former detainees and whistleblowers from the defense forces have collectively claimed routine infractions of global standards.

Organized Maltreatment

The institutionalised cruelty came with a alarming increase in casualties documented across no fewer than 12 civilian and military facilities in Israel. During the previous decade prior to the hostilities, there were typically two or three fatalities a year.

“This does not represent merely an isolated incident here and there. It is systemic and it will continue,” a spokesperson stated, in part since there is a culture of virtual exemption from consequences for fatalities and maltreatment of Palestinian individuals.

Just one case of attacking inmates has proceeded to court, with the service member handed a punishment to half a year. An effort to prosecute others over a brutal attack including sexual violence led to public rallies and the arrest of Israel’s top military lawyer, with the accused individuals now insisting that allegations against them be dismissed.

No Legal Action

“Despite this mass number of casualties, over two years not a single person has been detained,” the official said. “There exist no prosecutions over any death.

“During the time these measures continue to be enforced, each Palestinian individual in confinement is at peril, including the those in good health, even the juveniles who have no medical issues.”

High-Profile Cases

Some deaths in detention have been publicly known, including a middle-aged medical chief who perished in prison after a third of a year in detention.

A prisoner detained alongside the victim reported that he was taken to the courtyard by prison staff shortly before his demise, obviously hurt and exposed from the lower body. His body remains unreleased to Gaza.

Other prisoners who died in Israeli custody remain anonymous. Detention administrators and armed services provided researchers with the total of deaths in custody, and limited other details including the location where they perished, but not the inmates’ personal details.

Identification Challenges

Regarding 21 occurrences, primarily detainees from Gaza, researchers were not able to correlate the minimal data supplied by officials to a fatality recorded by advocacy bodies, via statements from released detainees or coverage in the press.

The inmates’ next of kin could be unaware about their family members’ fatalities as well, as Israel has created obstacles to locate Palestinian individuals it is holding. During 210 days at the start of the hostilities, the armed services declined to give essential data about the whereabouts of numerous of people held in Gaza, in effect carrying out a policy of unacknowledged detention, as stated by the rights monitoring body.

Insufficient Disclosure

Starting in May 2024, government bodies have created an email address for enquiries about Palestinians from Gaza, but this has resulted in merely a partial and limited betterment. Investigators noted|observed|commented on