DayofPal– The family of Ayman Abdel-Hadi Qudaih has been informed of his death in Israeli custody by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), following nearly two years of silence since his disappearance in October 2023.
According to his relatives, Qudaih, a laborer from Khan Younis, died as a result of severe torture during his detention, adding to growing concern over the treatment of Palestinian prisoners amid Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza.
Qudaih had been working inside Palestinian occupied territories when he went missing at the onset of the war. For months, his family received no verifiable information regarding his fate.
His case underscores the broader plight of thousands of Palestinians detained in Israeli prisons without trial or formal charges. Since the launch of Israel’s full-scale assault on Gaza on October 7, 2023, at least 63 Palestinian detainees have died inside Israeli prisons, according to independent human rights monitors.
Advocates warn that conditions within detention centers have deteriorated sharply, with reports of systematic abuse, neglect, and enforced disappearances.
The Qudaih family has borne the brunt of this unrelenting war. On the war’s first day, Ayman’s son was killed. That winter, his elderly father died after being displaced and exposed to harsh conditions.
Just two days prior to the Red Cross’s announcement, an Israeli airstrike struck the family’s neighborhood, fatally wounding Qudaih’s nephew, who died alone without medical aid.
As of now, more than 10,000 Palestinians are believed to be held in Israeli prisons, according to the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club. This number does not account for hundreds from Gaza whose detention has not been formally acknowledged and are considered forcibly disappeared.
Since the beginning of Israel’s military occupation in 1967, at least 233 Palestinian prisoners have died in custody, excluding the recent spike in deaths linked to the current war.
Humanitarian organizations report that, since October 2023, Israel’s assault has killed or wounded more than 160,000 Palestinians. The majority of the victims are women and children, while over 14,000 remain missing, presumed dead or buried beneath the rubble of bombed-out neighborhoods.
Leading human rights groups continue to assert that Israel’s actions constitute genocide and accuse its military of deliberately targeting civilians, families, and prisoners in violation of international law.
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