At least 98 Palestinians have died in Israeli custody since October 2023, a new report from an Israel-based human rights organization says, citing official Israeli data and other sources, and the actual death toll is likely much higher, given the large number of people detained in the Gaza Strip who are still missing.
The Physicians for Human Rights Israel (PHRI) report was based on official Israeli records and data obtained through freedom of information requests and cross-referenced with forensic reports, interviews with family members and lawyers, testimony from detained Palestinians, information published by other human rights groups, and other independent investigations to locate specific detainees.
According to PHRI, an Israeli advocacy group made up of medical professionals and human rights activists, Palestinians died in custody due to physical violence, medical neglect, or both.
PHRI revealed that 46 Palestinians have died in Israeli prison custody since the outbreak of the war, and at least 52 Palestinians, all from Gaza, have died in Israeli military custody.
“The fate of hundreds of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip detained by Israeli forces remains unknown to this day, suggesting that the actual death toll is likely significantly higher than the numbers recorded here,” the PHRI report notes.
Israeli authorities stopped providing information to the Red Cross about detained Palestinians early in the war and banned access to detention facilities.
The last data released by the Israeli military on deaths in custody was in May 2024, and the last data provided by the Israeli Prisons Authority was in September 2024. PHRI was subsequently able to document additional deaths using information obtained from first-hand accounts and official responses to requests submitted by the Palestinian Authority.
Asked about the report’s allegations, the Israel Prison Service (IPS) told CNN it “operates in accordance with the law,” adding: “All prisoners are held in accordance with legal procedures and their rights, including access to medical care, hygiene and adequate living conditions, are upheld by professionally trained personnel.” It added that it does not comment on numbers or claims presented by outside organizations.
“The allegations described do not reflect the conduct or procedures of Israeli prisons and we are not aware of any incidents such as those presented,” IPS said.
“An unprecedented number of Palestinians have died in Israeli custody over the past two years, and clear evidence of deaths due to torture and medical neglect points to Israel’s deliberate policy of killing Palestinians in custody,” Oneg Ben Dror, project coordinator for PHRI’s Prisoners and Detainees Division, said in a statement.
“These findings, and the continued failure of Israeli law enforcement to prosecute those responsible, have turned Israeli law itself into a fig leaf and a tool for cover-up,” Ben Dror added.
The report provides details on the deaths of Palestinians classified as “security prisoners,” including those held without charge or trial.
Although the identities of some of those who died in Israeli custody remain unknown, the report identified 73 Palestinians who died. Those named in the report include Dr. Adnan al-Baash, 53, head of orthopedic surgery at Gaza’s al-Shifa hospital, who died after reporting signs of “physical abuse” in prison, according to testimony from fellow detainees who have since been released. The report also names 17-year-old Walid Khalid Ahmad, who died of long-term malnutrition, according to the autopsy report.
In its report, PHRI concluded that Israeli authorities carried out “unprecedented attacks against detained Palestinians” and claimed that Israel’s far-right Minister of National Security Itamar Ben Gvir took steps to “deliberately worsen the situation of Palestinians in Israeli prisons.”
CNN has requested a response from Israel’s Ministry of National Security.
Ben Gvir has previously argued for minimum conditions in the law, saying that “conditions in prison increase deterrence”. He also slammed Israel’s Supreme Court after it ruled in September that it was not providing adequate meals to Palestinian prisoners of war and that their nutritional status needed to be improved.
Deaths have occurred in nearly every prison facility in Israel, the report said, “further highlighting the systematic and continuing nature of these killings in Israeli custody.”
Of those who died in Israeli prisons, 17 were from Gaza, 26 from the occupied West Bank and three were Israeli nationals, according to the report. The data shows that “on average, two Palestinians die in IPS detention facilities every month, and the number of deaths has steadily increased over time.”
CNN previously reported on abuse, medical neglect and deplorable conditions at the Sde Teyman field hospital at the Israeli military base, which now doubles as a detention center, in Israel’s Negev desert.
According to the PHRI report, 29 Palestinians captured from Gaza have died in Israeli military custody in Sde Tayman since the start of the war until August of this year, with additional deaths recorded in Ofer and Anatot military camps in southern Israel.
Earlier this year, PHRI announced it would join B’Tselem, Israel’s leading human rights organization, in condemning Israel’s actions in Gaza. Israel strongly rejected this accusation.
