Palestinian Detainee Dies in Israeli Custody, Rights Groups Demand International Probe
DaysofPal — Palestinian human rights organizations reported Thursday that a 33-year-old detainee from Gaza died in Israeli custody on December 13, 2023, at the Sde Teiman military camp, days after he and his family were arrested during the early stages of Israel's ground invasion of Gaza.
In a joint statement, the Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoners Society confirmed they had received an official Israeli occupation army response acknowledging the detainee's death. He was arrested from his home in Gaza on December 7, 2023, and was a father of three.
According to the statement, Sde Teiman has become a central site of abuse and torture against Gaza detainees in the aftermath of the military campaign. Released prisoners have shared accounts of severe mistreatment, with some bearing physical evidence that supports allegations of widespread and systematic violations.
The detainee's death raises the number of Palestinians confirmed killed in Israeli custody following the Gaza offensive to at least 70, including 44 from Gaza whose identities are known. Since 1967, a total of 307 Palestinian prisoners have died in Israeli custody, marking this as the deadliest period in the history of the Palestinian prisoner movement.
The organizations stated that responses from the Israeli army remain limited and often rely solely on military narratives, without disclosing the circumstances of death. The continued withholding of bodies further prevents independent investigations or proper burials.
Rights groups accused the Israeli army of providing inconsistent information regarding the deaths, forcing some organizations to seek court intervention. Torture was cited as the primary cause of death in most recent cases, in addition to medical neglect, starvation, and sexual abuse.
They described the case as part of a broader policy of systemic brutality aimed at detainees, warning that the death toll will likely rise as thousands remain in custody under conditions described as inhumane and life-threatening.
As of early May 2025, over 10,100 Palestinians are being held in Israeli prisons, including 39 women, more than 400 children, 3,577 administrative detainees held without charge, and 1,846 detainees from Gaza classified as 'unlawful combatants.' This figure does not include all those held in military camps.
The organizations held Israeli authorities fully responsible and called for an impartial international investigation into the deaths of detainees during the recent conflict. They urged the global human rights system to take concrete steps, including imposing sanctions, to hold Israeli leaders accountable and end what they called a state of impunity.
They further called for the reactivation of international legal mechanisms and an end to what they described as a global failure to respond to war crimes committed during the Gaza war, warning that the exceptional immunity granted to Israel continues to enable grave violations without consequence.
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