Fourth Palestinian Prisoner Dies as Abuse in “Israeli” Detention Deepens

By Staff, Agencies

A 26-year-old Palestinian detainee has died while being held in an “Israeli” prison, becoming the fourth Palestinian prisoner to die in custody in recent days and fueling renewed demands for international intervention.

Sakhr Ahmad Khalil Zaoul, an “administrative detainee” from the town of Husan, west of Beit Lahm in the south-central occupied West Bank, died while imprisoned at the “Israeli”-run “Ofer” prison, according to the Palestine Chronicle. Several Palestinian institutions, including the Commission of Detainees’ Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoners’ Society [PPS], confirmed his death on Sunday.

Zaoul had been held under administrative detention since June 11, a policy used by the “Israeli” entity to imprison Palestinians indefinitely without charge, evidence, or trial. His family said he had no known chronic illnesses. His brother, Khalil Zaoul, also remains imprisoned in “Israeli” detention facilities.

The Prisoners’ Media Office said Zaoul’s death was the result of a systematic policy of what it described as “slow execution” targeting Palestinian detainees. In a statement, the office cited brutal detention conditions, including deprivation of basic necessities, torture, starvation, medical neglect and prolonged physical and psychological abuse, which have contributed to a rising death toll inside “Israeli” prisons.

Holding the “Israeli” authorities fully responsible, the office called for an independent international investigation into crimes committed inside detention centers.

It also demanded the immediate deployment of international monitoring teams, disclosure of the fate of forcibly disappeared detainees, the return of bodies of prisoners who have died in custody, and accountability for “Israeli” officials through international sanctions.

Zaoul’s death came just four days after the passing of Abdel Rahman Al-Sabateen, a 21-year-old detainee from the same town, who died at the Shaare Tzedek medical center in the occupied territories.

Palestinian prisoner organizations said the recent deaths mark the deadliest period in the history of the Palestinian Captives Movement, a national effort advocating for detainees’ rights.

They said the latest cases raise to 323 the total number of confirmed Palestinian detainee deaths since 1967, when the “Israeli” entity occupied the West Bank during a heavily Western-backed war.

The Commission of Detainees’ Affairs and the PPS said the pace of deaths has accelerated since extremist figure Itamar Ben-Gvir took office as the entity’s so-called police minister. They noted that even “Israeli” sources have acknowledged an increase in deaths inside prisons and detention camps during his tenure.

According to the two bodies, Ben-Gvir has overseen harsher punitive measures against Palestinian detainees and promoted legislation seeking to introduce the death penalty.

Human rights organizations, including groups operating inside the occupied territories, have documented widespread abuse, neglect and systemic mistreatment within detention facilities. The Commission and the PPS said conditions inside “Israeli” prisons have surpassed all legal and humanitarian limits.

They added that since October 2023, when the entity launched a war of genocide against the Gaza Strip, the “Israeli” prison system, judicial bodies, and policing agencies have been tasked with running a detention apparatus that inflicts sustained physical and psychological harm.

Reports have documented torture, starvation, medical neglect, sexual violence, denial of basic rights and the spread of infectious diseases such as scabies.

According to prisoner advocacy groups, more than 9,300 Palestinians are currently held in “Israeli” prisons, along with hundreds more in military detention camps. Among them are more than 50 women and approximately 350 children.