Israeli Occupation Continues Systematic Killing of Defenseless Palestinian Prisoners
Documented torture, medical neglect, and enforced disappearance escalate amid international silence.
Palestine, PUREWILAYAH.COM - The Palestine Center for Prisoners Studies confirmed that the Israeli occupation continues to carry out systematic killings of unarmed Palestinian detainees inside its prisons, amid clear international silence and the inability of human rights and humanitarian institutions to intervene and stop the escalating violations committed outside the framework of law.
The center’s director, researcher Riyad al-Ashqar, stated that the occupation has caused the death of 85 prisoners since the start of the war on the Gaza Strip on October 7, 2023, due to torture, abuse, and deliberate medical neglect.
He noted that the latest victim is Abdul Rahman Sufyan al-Sabateen, 21, from Bethlehem, who died after six months of detention under brutal conditions, despite previously recovering from a serious injury he had sustained before his arrest.
Death Toll Climbs as Israeli Minister Incites Further Brutality
Al-Ashqar warned that the number of prisoners being killed is expected to rise as the occupation continues its repressive policies, reinforced by open incitement from the extremist Israeli Minister of National Security, who directly supports increased restrictions, harsher conditions, and intensified punitive measures inside prisons.
He reported that the total number of martyrs of the Palestinian prisoners’ movement since 1967 has reached 322, including 85 prisoners killed after October 7, 2023.
The occupation continues to withhold the bodies of 82 of them, while concealing all information about hundreds of detainees from Gaza as part of a deliberate policy of enforced disappearance.
According to the center, the occupation has escalated the use of severe torture methods in new detention centers over the past two years—most notably “Sde Teiman” and special sections in the Negev and Ofer prisons.
These methods include electric shocks, severe beatings, forced stripping in harsh weather, the use of attack dogs, prolonged suspension, and systematic medical neglect that has resulted in the deaths of many ill detainees.
Starvation, Disease, and Urgent Calls for International Action
Al-Ashqar explained that Israeli prisons have become a breeding ground for disease and malnutrition. More than 9,500 prisoners suffer from acute food shortages, alongside widespread outbreaks of diseases such as scabies, amid deprivation of medical treatment and basic hygiene supplies.
These conditions put every detainee at immediate risk and could result in more deaths at any moment.
The center renewed its call on the international community and human rights institutions to take urgent action, form independent investigative committees to document the violations, and pressure the occupation to halt its crimes of killing and torture.
It also urged the International Criminal Court to hold those responsible accountable for these acts, which constitute war crimes under international law. (PW)