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Number of Palestinians who died in Israeli jails since October highest in decades: Report

Wednesday, 26 June 2024 7:04 PM [ Last Update: Wednesday, 26 June 2024 7:04 PM ]

Israeli soldiers stand by a truck packed with bound and blindfolded Palestinians in Gaza, December 8, 2023.

The number of Palestinians who have died in Israeli jails since October 7 is the highest since 1967, a report says.

The Commission for Detainees Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoners Society said in a report on Wednesday that Israeli authorities have been torturing Palestinians at a level without precedent since that October day.

Israel has been holding more than 9,400 Palestinians from the occupied West Bank, along with thousands from the besieged Gaza Strip and hundreds from the 1948-occupied land since October, the two groups said.

Palestinians recently released by Israel have recounted suffering due to the inhuman treatment and abuse at the hands of Israeli jailers. They spoke of starvation, systematic medical negligence, isolation and denial of basic rights.

“Detainees are subjected to torture and various forms of abuse, including sexual assault and rape,” the report said.

Israeli authorities said earlier in June that they had begun transferring Palestinians from Sde Teiman, a former military base in the Negev desert, after groups demanded the closure of the site.

At least 18 Palestinians along with an unknown number from Gaza have died in Israeli custody since October.

A UN report, prepared by an independent commission of inquiry set up by the UN human rights commission, has accused Israel of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity as well as carrying out a war of extermination against the Palestinian people in Gaza.

The finding suggests Israel deliberately and systematically targeted Palestinian civilians in breach of both international humanitarian and human rights laws.

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