Palestinians have been dying at an ‘alarming rate’ in Israeli prisons since October 7, 2023, rights group says

At least 94 Palestinians died in Israeli custody between October 7, 2023 and August 2025, according to a report by an Israel-based human rights group led by medical professionals, representing a dramatic increase in the number of prisoner deaths during the Gaza war.

The Physicians for Human Rights – Israel (PHRI) report says its figures may only represent a portion of the true total of Palestinian deaths in civilian or military detention.

The PHRI says its research revealed “deeply concerning patterns of physical violence and medical neglect,” which it says were the two main factors responsible for the deaths of most Palestinians in Israeli custody.

“The alarming rate of people killed in Israeli prisons reveals a system that has lost all moral and professional restraint,” said Naji Abbas, director of PHRI.

PHRI documented these deaths by interviewing former inmates and prison medical staff, reviewing reports prepared by doctors who observed autopsies at the request of families of deceased prisoners, and confirming dozens of deaths through Freedom of Information requests regarding Israeli government data.

The Israeli Prison Service said in response to the PHRI report that all of its facilities are operated in compliance with Israeli laws and under appropriate supervision.

PHRI says it analyzed autopsies that showed some Palestinian detainees died after suffering bruises “consistent with blows,” multiple rib fractures, hemorrhaging and lacerations to intra-abdominal organs.

Among the examples of alleged medical negligence, PHRI notes a documented case of severe malnutrition and several cases of serious infections that it says were left untreated.

The report’s authors used official Israeli data obtained through freedom of information requests as well as individual surveys to write their report. It says that of the 94 Palestinians who have died in Israeli detention centers since October 2023, 68 were from the Gaza Strip. The remaining 26 were from the Israeli-occupied West Bank, and some also held Israeli citizenship.

The PHRI says the true number of deaths over this period is “likely much higher”, noting that Israel has refused to provide information on hundreds of Palestinians detained during the war.

Fewer than 30 Palestinians died in Israeli custody in the decade preceding the war, according to PHRI. But since the war sparked by Hamas’ terrorist attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, the organization says Israel’s prison population has more than doubled, to 11,000, as people were arrested, mainly from Gaza and the West Bank.

The number of prisoner deaths increased at an even faster rate during this period, according to PHRI data.

In response to the report, the Israeli Prison Service told CBS News that it operated “in accordance with the law and under the supervision of official oversight bodies.”

The service said it was not aware of the specific incidents presented in the report and that the allegations “do not reflect the conduct or procedures of the Israel Prison Service.”

The IPS also maintains that detainees have adequate access to medical care, hygiene and adequate living conditions.

Last year, the far-right nationalist minister in charge of Israel’s prison system, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, boasted of having reduced prison conditions to the legal minimum, vowing that they would no longer be “summer camps.”

Under pressure from rights groups, conditions in Israeli detention centers have improved slightly in recent months, according to PHRI.

Personal testimonies from prison staff

A former nurse at the Sde Teiman military prison in southern Israel, who PHRI said spoke on condition of anonymity, said the chains were used to shackle the arms and legs of many prisoners, causing injuries so severe in some cases that the Palestinians’ limbs had to be amputated.

During the several weeks in early 2024 when she said she worked at the facility, which held many detainees from Gaza and was the subject of high-profile abuse allegations, she said she did not see anyone die, but staff mentioned prisoner deaths. PHRI said she left her position in response to the alleged abusive treatment of prisoners.

The Israeli military has said that extended handcuffs are only applied in exceptional cases, when there are “important security considerations.” Even in this case, the state of health of the detainees is taken into account, the press release specifies. Only a few Gaza detainees are currently being treated in this way, the statement added.

A former Sde Teiman guard told PHRI that their commanders – who she said participated in the beatings – asked their colleagues to reduce the death toll. Eventually, cameras were installed, which helped mitigate the alleged abuse, PHRI says.

The PHRI report indicates that 29 prisoners have died at Sde Teiman since the start of the war. Earlier this year, an Israeli soldier was convicted of abusing Palestinian detainees at Sde Teiman and sentenced in a high-profile case to seven months in prison, which the military says constitutes proof of responsibility.

But the prisoners’ lawyers say Israel rarely conducts serious investigations into the alleged abuse, which they say fuels the problem.

In a sign of the public’s state of mind on this issue, Israelis the army’s top lawyer was recently forced to resign after admitting she approved the leak of surveillance video at the center of an investigation into allegations of serious abuse against a Palestinian detainee in Sde Teiman.

She said she intended to disclose the leak to defend her office’s decision to sue the guards for the alleged abuse. Instead, it drew sharp criticism from radical Israelis, including some members of the government, who sympathized with the guards. Sde Teiman and another detention center were overrun by angry protesters who clashed with prison guards and attempted to enter both facilities.

Several soldiers have been charged in this case, which is still pending before a military court.

It is difficult to determine with certainty the cause of death of most prisoners. Sometimes, at the request of prisoners’ families, doctors were authorized by Israel to attend autopsies and provide the families with reports of what they had seen.

Alleged medical negligence

Eight reports cited by PHRI and viewed by The Associated Press showed a pattern of physical abuse and medical neglect.

In one, Mohammad Husein Ali, a 45-year-old man who died at the Kishon detention center, showed multiple signs of physical assault, likely causing a brain hemorrhage, the report said. The potential use of excessive constraints was also noted.

His family said he was in good health before his arrest at his home in the West Bank. He died less than a week after his imprisonment.

Malnutrition contributed to the death of at least one detainee, according to PHRI, with a 17-year-old boy dying of starvation.

In September, Israel’s Supreme Court ordered that more and better food be served to Palestinian detainees. Rights groups say the situation has improved slightly.

The military said detainees received three meals a day, approved by a dietitian. Each detainee is examined by a doctor upon arrival and, for those who need it, is followed by regular check-ups.