Over Half of Palestinian Detainees in Israeli Prisons Die from Torture, Says Prisoner Center

Occupied Palestine (Quds News Network)- More than half of the Palestinian prisoners who have died in Israeli prisons since the start of Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza were killed as a result of torture and abuse.

According to the Palestine Center for Prisoners Studies on Friday, more than half of the Palestinian prisoners who have died since October 7, 2023, were killed primarily as a result of torture and abuse.

The center reported that since 1967, a total of 302 Palestinian prisoners have died in Israeli occupation prisons. Of these, 65 have died since the beginning of the Israeli assault on Gaza, with 35 of them killed directly due to brutal torture—most of whom were from the Gaza Strip and detained during the ongoing offensive.

Due to the sharp rise in arrests—particularly among Gazans—Israel has opened new detention and interrogation centers operated directly by its military. According to the center, these facilities have become sites of “systematic torture and mistreatment, in clear violation of international law and human rights.”

Among the most notorious of these facilities is the “Sde Teiman” detention center in al-Nakab, often referred to as “the Death Camp” or “Israel’s Guantanamo” due to reports of extreme abuse that surpass even the horrors associated with Guantanamo Bay. Other centers include a military prison camp within Ofer Prison, the “Minshar” interrogation facility in the northern West Bank, and the Naftali military detention camp.

The center emphasized that Sde Teiman operates entirely without oversight, with top Israeli security and military officials granting interrogators and soldiers full legal immunity. This has effectively given them a green light to use all forms of violent, degrading, and even deadly torture—including sexual abuse—with the intent to humiliate, break, and ultimately destroy the detainees. As a result, many have died, while countless others are left with lifelong physical and psychological trauma.

The center also revealed that Israel has officially acknowledged the deaths of 36 detainees in Sde Teiman since October 7, though this number is likely only a fraction of the true toll. Many prisoners from Gaza have been subjected to forced disappearance and held incommunicado under inhumane conditions, creating an environment where extrajudicial killings can occur without oversight or accountability.

In addition to torture, the center documented 29 deaths resulting from medical negligence. Israel is reported to routinely deny prisoners access to basic medical care, holding them in unsanitary, disease-ridden conditions and delaying or outright refusing necessary treatment for extended periods. In many cases, prisoners are only transferred to hospitals when they are on the brink of death.

Among the most well-known victims of medical negligence:

• Walid Daqqa: died after 38 years in prison despite completing his 37-year sentence. He suffered from a serious blood disorder and was denied release or proper treatment.
• Khaled Shawish: died after 23 years in detention.
• Sheikh Mustafa Abu Ara
• Asif Al-Rifa’i: a cancer patient held under administrative detention without charges and denied proper care. He died in Assaf Harofeh Hospital.

The center also highlighted the case of Walid Ahmed, a 17-year-old from Silwad, who died in Megiddo Prison due to deliberate starvation. This policy, enforced by far-right minister Itamar Ben Gvir, continues to be used against detainees. An autopsy revealed that chronic malnutrition and lack of food led to serious health complications, ultimately resulting in his death.

The 65 prisoners who have died since October 7 mark the highest death toll in the shortest period in the history of the Palestinian prisoners’ movement, the center said.

However, it added, the true number is believed to be significantly higher, as hundreds of detainees remain unidentified—especially among those from Gaza—whose deaths and bodies have reportedly been concealed by Israeli occupation.

The center warned of the continued threat to prisoners’ lives as a result of torture, medical neglect, starvation, and psychological abuse. It placed full responsibility on the “far-right Israeli government for these crimes, as well as for shielding those who perpetrate them.”