Israel court to probe death of Palestinian detainee in prison

An Israeli occupation court has today ordered an investigation into the death of Palestinian detainee Abdulrahman Bahash, according to the Palestinian Prisoners’ Society (PPS).

The 23-year-old was pronounced dead on Monday under unclear circumstances in the Israeli prison of Megiddo.

In a joint statement, the Commission of Detainees’ Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club and PPS revealed that the court’s decision followed the approval of a request by the Commission’s lawyer to investigate the circumstances surrounding Bahash’s death.

The court also granted the lawyer’s request to allow a doctor, selected by the family, to participate in the post-mortem examination aimed at determining the cause of death.

The next hearing has been scheduled for 16 January to conclude discussions on the case, Wafa news agency reported.

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The announcement added that the request for an investigation was part of a legal initiative to further investigate the incidents involving the deaths of several Palestinian detainees in Israeli occupation prisons since 7 October. Bahash, from Nablus, was the seventh Palestinian prisoner to have died in an Israeli prison since 7 October.

Speaking to Palestinian media after his death, Bahash’s father said his son had been subjected to “torture, beatings and aggression” while in prison with many prisoners stripped naked and left in the cold facing humiliation and not allowed to sleep.

While acknowledging that seeking an investigation into the circumstances surrounding detainees’ deaths does not imply anticipation of justice from the occupation courts, the rights groups emphasised that it serves as a strategic step to address the escalating torture and abuse against Palestinian detainees in Israeli jails.

They accused the Israeli occupation of systematically killing Palestinian detainees through torture, abuse and ongoing retaliatory measures. These measures include the crime of medical negligence and the deprivation of necessary treatment.

“The crime of assassinating Bahash confirms that the occupation state is continuing, without any deterrence, or any consideration, more assassinations of prisoners and detainees,” the organisations said in a statement. “This is in addition to systematic crimes of torture and abuse.”

Israel is currently detaining 7,000 Palestinian political detainees in its jails, according to rights group Addameer.

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