The organization accuses Israel of systematic violence against prisoners and of denying detainees medical care.
In total, PHRI has documented 98 Palestinian deaths in Israeli prisons since the Gaza War broke out in connection with the terrorist-labeled Hamas attack on Israel in October 2023. 27 died in 2023, 50 in 2024 and 21 this year.
According to PHRI – which interviewed prisoners and healthcare workers and reviewed autopsy documentation – the actual death toll is likely higher.
“Alarming pace”
Comparatively, fewer than 30 Palestinian prisoners died in the ten years preceding the war.
The alarming rate at which people are being killed in Israeli custody reveals a system that has lost all moral and professional restraint, said Naji Abbas, director of PHRI.
The picture of violence and abuse is consistent with a survey conducted by the AP news agency, in which several former prisoners, correctional officers, doctors and nurses were interviewed.
The Israeli army admits that prisoners have died, including those with pre-existing illnesses and war-related injuries. But army spokesman Nadav Shoshani calls PHRI's death toll inflated, without providing a figure of his own.
Soldier sentenced
The witnesses AP spoke to tell stories of abuse and how prisoners suffered such severe wounds from walking around in handcuffs that limbs had to be amputated.
In the prison at the Sde Teiman military base alone, 29 prisoners have reportedly died since the outbreak of the war, according to PHRI.
Earlier this year, an Israeli soldier at Sde Teiman was sentenced to seven months in prison for his treatment of detainees. Several soldiers there have also been charged with sexual assault, suspected crimes that were captured on leaked surveillance video.
