A shocking number of Palestinian prisoners taken captive by Israel have died in Israeli prisons since last October as Israeli soldiers and guards continue to be accused of rape and other violent acts, Palestinian officials said Sunday. Photo courtesy of the Palestinian Commission of Detainees’ Affairs
A shocking number of Palestinian prisoners taken captive by Israel have died in Israeli prisons since last October as Israeli soldiers and guards continue to be accused of rape and other violent acts.
The Palestinian Commission of Detainees’ Affairs, a governmental body of the Palestinian Authority, has previously documented the abuses of Palestinian captives by their Israeli guards, including having their bones broken and being stripped naked for torture. Advertisement
The commission asserted that Israelis have “targeted” Palestinian captives over the decades of conflict between militant Israelis and Palestinians. Hundreds of Palestinians have died in Israeli captivity over the years of Israeli occupation.
But specifically since Oct. 7, 2023, at least 24 named Palestinians died in Israeli captivity, according to a list published Sunday by the commission. Another 20 or so prisoners have also been confirmed to have died in captivity, but their names are not known.
The first of the named deaths was revealed to have occurred on Oct. 15, 2023, about a week after the war began. The bloodiest months for prisoners appear to have been February and March of this year, with five prisoner deaths each. Advertisement
“Over the past months, several human rights groups have followed this case, which was accompanied by torture, medical crimes, rape, and sexual assaults, reflected in the testimonies of released detainees,” the commission said.
The human rights group Amnesty International said in November that after the war broke out, Israeli authorities “dramatically increased their use of administrative detention” without charges.
Amnesty International has documented cases of Israeli soldiers torturing Palestinian detainees, including “severe beatings” and “humiliation.” The human rights group said that such torture had been occurring “for decades” before Hamas’ attack Oct. 7.
And, Israeli forces have detained journalists and more than a dozen healthcare workers in Gaza.
Previously, human rights experts with the United Nations expressed alarm about the treatment of women and girls in Gaza who were subject to extrajudicial executions by the Israeli military.
Sexual violence by Israeli soldiers against Palestinian women has been documented since before the war began. Since the war, several Palestinian detainees have said they were raped while others were threatened with rape and sexual violence.
And throughout the war, videos and pictures purporting to show Israeli soldiers going through Palestinian women’s underwear in Gaza have gone viral. Advertisement
