At least 98 Palestinians have died in Israeli custody since October 2023, with the true figure likely far higher after hundreds of detainees from Gaza went missing, according to a report by Physicians for Human Rights – Israel (PHRI).
The Israeli human rights group tracked deaths from physical violence, medical neglect and malnutrition using freedom of information requests, forensic reports and interviews. Official figures for the first eight months of the war show an unprecedented casualty rate, averaging one death every four days.
The military last updated its data in May 2024, and the Israel Prison Service in September 2024. PHRI researchers identified another 35 deaths after those dates, confirmed with Israeli authorities. However, they believe many more remain unrecorded.
Classified Israeli data indicate the majority of Palestinian prisoners from Gaza who died in jail were civilians, according to a parallel investigation by the Guardian, +972 Magazine and Local Call. The deaths include "security prisoners" – a category covering Gaza civilians held without charge or trial and prisoners of conscience from the West Bank. Three were Israeli citizens or residents.
Physical violence, torture and other abuse has been normalised across Israel’s prison system during the war, with far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir boasting about starvation rations and underground jails. In contrast, the decade before the war saw an average of two or three deaths a year.
Only one case of assaulting detainees has come to trial, resulting in a seven-month sentence. No one has been charged over any killing. High-profile deaths include Adnan al-Bursh, head of orthopaedics at al-Shifa hospital, who died in Ofer prison; his body has not been returned to Gaza. The Prison Service has not released the names of those who died.
