B’Tselem report alleges systematic torture, starvation, and deaths in Israeli detention centres

The Israeli human rights organisation B’Tselem released a report on Tuesday documenting widespread and systematic abuses against Palestinians held in Israeli detention centres, including torture, starvation, sexual violence, denial of medical care, and deaths in custody.

According to the report, Israeli detention facilities operate as a coordinated network of what B’Tselem characterised as “torture camps,” where detainees are subjected to severe physical and psychological abuse under inhumane conditions. Testimonies collected by the organisation describe prolonged beatings, humiliation, extreme overcrowding, deliberate starvation, medical neglect, and, in some cases, sexual violence. Several former detainees reported experiencing such abuses personally or witnessing them being inflicted on others.

B’Tselem said it has documented at least 84 cases of Palestinians who died in Israeli custody since October 2023, including one minor. Of those who died, 50 were from the Gaza Strip, 31 from the occupied West Bank, and three were Palestinian citizens of Israel. The organisation added that, as of January 2025, Israeli authorities were still withholding the bodies of 80 of the deceased prisoners and refusing to return them to their families.

The report noted that these figures represent only cases that could be independently verified, warning that the actual number of deaths in detention may be higher.

Commenting on the findings, B’Tselem Executive Director Yuli Novak said Israeli detention centres had become part of a “planned and widespread attack” against Palestinian society. She argued that the abuse of detainees forms part of a broader policy aimed at dismantling Palestinian social and political life, linking the detention practices to the ongoing war in Gaza and what she described as ethnic cleansing in the West Bank.

Novak criticised the international community for what she called continued inaction, saying that the absence of accountability for Israel has contributed to the persistence of torture, repression, and other grave violations against Palestinians.