A report by Israeli NGO PHRI denounces the killing of Palestinians in Israeli detention facilities. The official death toll stands at 98, but hundreds more are unaccounted for.
Since 7 October 2023, at least 98 Palestinian prisoners have died in Israeli prisons. Hundreds more are reported missing, suggesting the overall death toll may be far higher. The findings are contained in a new report by Israeli non-governmental organisation Physicians for Human Rights – Israel (PHRI), which describes a deliberate Israeli policy of killing Palestinians in custody. Collecting data has been extremely difficult, as Israeli authorities refuse to share the personal details of prisoners — most of whom are held without formal charges and without having stood trial — and provide no information on deaths in custody. Moreover, Israeli officials responsible for deaths in custody face no criminal prosecution, and this climate of impunity only serves to worsen the toll.
Israeli non-governmental organisation Physicians for Human Rights – Israel (PHRI) has been monitoring the deaths of Palestinians in Israeli prisons since 7 October 2023, the date on which the genocide in the Gaza Strip began. The NGO faced significant difficulties in gathering data, running up against the limited transparency of Israeli authorities, who refuse to provide information on the identities of those held or their state of health. Israel's official figures on deaths in custody, for example, have not been updated since the summer of 2024.
According to PHRI's findings, at least 98 Palestinians have died in Israeli detention facilities since 7 October 2023. Of these, 68 came from the Gaza Strip, 26 from the West Bank or held Israeli citizenship, and details are missing for four others who died recently and about whom it has not yet been possible to learn more. All of these deaths involve individuals held in detention for "security reasons" — in most cases civilians who face no formal charges and have never stood trial, as confirmed by a parallel investigation by British daily The Guardian, Israeli magazine +972 Magazine and Hebrew-language newspaper Local Call. Yet the figure of 98 Palestinian detainees dead, while significantly higher than estimates that had circulated until now, is in reality likely only the tip of the iceberg.
"This is not a complete picture. We are certain there are people who have died in detention that we are not aware of," warned Naji Abbas, director of the prisoners and detainees department at PHRI. Hundreds of Palestinians held in Israeli prisons have in fact been unaccounted for for a considerable time, suggesting that at least some of them may no longer be alive, given that Israel typically stops providing any information once a prisoner dies.
The PHRI report highlights that before 7 October 2023, an average of two to three Palestinian deaths per year were recorded in Israeli prisons. Over the past two years, the figures have grown exponentially, with 98 deaths and hundreds more people who have disappeared from official records. "The data shows that deaths have occurred across all detention facilities, not as isolated incidents, but as part of a broader policy," the PHRI states, describing "a systematic pattern of serious violence, including traumatic brain injuries, internal haemorrhages and broken ribs. Other cases point to severe medical negligence, including extreme malnutrition and the denial of life-saving treatment."
The report gathers dozens of testimonies concerning deaths that occurred across an equal number of Israeli detention facilities. Among them is the story of Adnan al-Bursh, head of orthopaedics at al-Shifa hospital in the Gaza Strip, who died in Ofer prison after four months in detention. A fellow prisoner testified to having seen the man being carried wounded and upside down just hours before his death. Then there is the story of Mefleh Abu Manza, who spent several days without food or water and received no medical care in his cell, until he collapsed and died. And that of Walid Khaled Abdullah Ahmad, who by the time he died in his cell had reached such a severe level of malnutrition that he had lost all muscle mass.
As the PHRI report denounces, none of those responsible for these deaths has ever been prosecuted in Israel, and this climate of impunity has paved the way for further deaths. What has taken hold is, ultimately, "a continuing pattern of cover-ups, lack of oversight and institutional refusal of accountability". In early October, Israel released around 2,000 Palestinians who had been held, largely arbitrarily, in its detention facilities. At least another thousand people remain in the same situation today, imprisoned on alleged "security grounds". And their lives are constantly at risk.
