Palestinian man dies in Israeli prison one week after his arrest

A 53-year-old Palestinian man has died in an Israeli prison just one week after his arrest from the town of Rummana, near Jenin in the northern occupied West Bank, the Palestinian Detainees’ Affairs Commission and the Palestinian Prisoners’ Society (PPS) announced Thursday, according to the Palestinian Wafa news agency.

Samir Mohammad Yousef Al-Rifai, a father of five, was taken from his home by Israeli occupation forces on July 10 and was scheduled to appear at the Salem Military Court on Thursday, according to the organizations. Medical reports from his family indicate that Al-Rifai had pre-existing heart conditions that required intensive medical follow-up prior to his arrest.

With Al-Rifai’s death, the number of Palestinians killed in Israel’s custody has risen to 74 since the beginning of Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza on October 7, 2023. These figures only represent those whose identities are known, amidst ongoing cases of enforced disappearance. This period has been described as the “bloodiest” in the history of Palestinian prisoners. Since 1967, the total number of identified Palestinian prisoners who have died in Israeli custody has now reached 311.

The Commission and the PPS stressed that the escalating toll of slain prisoners is a tragic reflection of systematic oppression, as thousands continue to be incarcerated in Israeli prisons. They highlighted the prevalence of various forms of abuse—including torture, starvation, and medical neglect—as well as unprecedented policies of dispossession and deprivation, which have led to serious health issues like scabies.

The organizations deemed Al-Rifai’s death as yet another crime in a long line of Israeli brutality aimed at Palestinian prisoners. They underscored that this incident is not only an extension of ongoing violence but also part of a broader pattern of genocide.

Both organizations hold the Israeli occupation fully accountable for Al-Rifai’s death and have reiterated their call for the international human rights system to take decisive action against the leaders of the occupation for their ongoing war crimes against the Palestinian people. They demand sanctions that would isolate the occupation internationally and restore the human rights system to its intended role, ending the prevailing state of impunity that Israel has experienced.

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