54 Palestinian prisoners killed since October 2023

Fifty-four Palestinian prisoners have been killed in Israeli prisons since October 2023, two Palestinian civil society organisations reported in a joint statement released yesterday, which marks Palestinian Martyr’s Day.

The Commission for Detainees and the Prisoners’ Club noted in their statement that 35 of the detainees were from Gaza, adding that the occupation continues to conceal the fate of dozens of prisoners from Gaza who are presumed dead.

The two organisations further stated that since 1967, 291 identified prisoners have died in custody, in addition to those executed during field operations.

The statement also highlighted that 63 deceased prisoners’ bodies remain withheld, including 52 who died since the onset of the war, while many others from Gaza remain victims of enforced disappearance.

Testimonies from prisoners since Israel launched its war on Gaza, which human rights groups have declared a genocide, indicate that several detainees from Gaza were killed due to brutal torture in Israeli prisons, alongside a policy of medical neglect.

By early December, the total number of detainees in Israeli prisons exceeded 10,300, according to prison authorities. Among them are 90 women, at least 345 children, and 3,428 administrative detainees.

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