A new report from an Israeli human rights organization has documented a significant and alarming increase in the number of Palestinian detainees who have died while in Israeli custody since October 2023. The findings indicate that at least 98 such deaths have been recorded, a figure that researchers warn is likely an undercount.
The report, compiled by Physicians for Human Rights – Israel (PHRI), utilized official data obtained through freedom of information requests, forensic reports, and interviews with legal representatives, activists, and witnesses. It cites causes of death including physical violence, medical neglect, and malnutrition.
Official Israeli data, which was only comprehensively provided for the first eight months of the period, showed an average of one detainee death every four days. This casualty rate marks a stark departure from the pre-war average of two to three deaths per year. While Israeli military and prison authorities have not updated their public figures beyond mid-2024, the research group says it has confirmed an additional 35 deaths with authorities after those dates.
A central concern raised by the report is the lack of transparency and the difficulty in tracking detainees, particularly those seized from Gaza. For months at the start of the conflict, basic information about thousands of individuals was withheld, a practice the report describes as effectively constituting a policy of forced disappearance. Although an inquiry system was later established, it is described as providing only partial and unreliable information.
“We are certain there are still people who died in detention that we don’t know about,” said Naji Abbas, who leads the prisoners and detainees department at PHRI. He emphasized that the documented deaths point to a systemic issue, not isolated incidents, fueled by a “culture of near total impunity.”
The report details that the vast majority of those who have died were classified as “security prisoners,” a broad category that includes civilians from Gaza held without charge or trial, as well as prisoners from the occupied West Bank. Only a small fraction were listed on Israeli military databases as members of armed factions.
High-profile cases include medical professionals, such as the head of orthopaedics at al-Shifa hospital, whose body has not been returned to his family. Many others remain anonymous, as authorities provided death counts and locations but not names. In 21 cases, the details provided by officials could not be matched to any death recorded by human rights monitors or media reports.
Families are often left in the dark. In one documented case, a family had to petition Israel’s high court to learn that a father and son taken from their home in Khan Younis had died in custody, after the military repeatedly claimed to have no record of detaining them.
Despite the scale of the fatalities, accountability appears absent. Only one soldier has been prosecuted for assaulting detainees, receiving a seven-month sentence. No one has been charged in connection with any of the deaths documented in the report.
In statements, the Israeli military said it acts in accordance with the law and that every detainee death is investigated by military police. The Israel Prison Service stated it operates lawfully, examines each death, and referred claims in the report, saying it was “not aware of the incidents as presented.”
The report concludes that the policies and lack of transparency have made it “extremely difficult, if not impossible” to determine the full scope of the issue or to trace the fate of many who have been detained, leaving countless families in a state of unresolved grief and uncertainty.