Israeli media outlet Walla has revealed a disturbing surge in Palestinian fatalities within Israeli detention facilities, documenting 110 deaths over the past two and a half years under the restrictive policies of far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir. This figure represents a dramatic escalation when compared to historical data, which recorded approximately 187 Palestinian detainee deaths between 1967 and 2007—an average of fewer than five per year. The current rate equates to nearly one death per week, a pace described as a “record high” by the report.
The investigation attributes this alarming mortality rate to a series of severe measures implemented by Ben Gvir. These include significantly reduced food rations, deprivation of sunlight, limitations on warm clothing and access to showers and hygienic products, and systematic violent beatings and cell raids. While Walla’s data indicates that most deaths occurred in hospitals during treatment rather than inside detention centers, the conditions leading to these medical emergencies are directly linked to prison policies.
Human rights organizations have long documented the mistreatment of Palestinian detainees, but reports confirm that abuses have intensified sharply since the onset of Israel’s war on Gaza in October 2023. Systemic torture and abuse have reached unprecedented levels, with at least 100 prisoner deaths documented under these conditions. Both international and Israeli human rights groups, including B’Tselem, have condemned the situation, with the latter referring to the prisons as “torture camps.”
Israel’s Public Defender’s Office recently reported on deteriorating conditions, noting that Palestinians endure extreme hunger, overcrowding, and systematic violence by prison staff. This assessment was corroborated by a UN Committee Against Torture report last month, which found the use of torture by the Israeli state to be “organised and widespread” and noted a grave intensification since October 2023.
An estimated 9,250 to 10,000 Palestinians are currently held in Israeli prisons, with nearly half detained without charge or trial under indefinitely renewable administrative detention orders. This reporting on prison deaths emerges alongside deliberations on a new bill, championed by Ben Gvir, that would allow the death penalty for Palestinian prisoners convicted on “nationalistic” grounds—a penalty that would not apply to Israelis under similar circumstances. The bill has advanced through a preliminary reading in the Knesset, with Ben Gvir symbolically wearing a noose pendant during discussions to emphasize his commitment to the legislation.