DaysofPal- A Palestinian rights researcher has stated that the Israeli occupation forces (IOF) have extrajudicially killed at least 32 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails during 2025, calling the past two years the deadliest period for detainees since the start of the Israeli occupation.
Riyad Al-Ashqar, director of the Palestine Center for Prisoners’ Studies, said Thursday that Israeli prisons have seen an unprecedented escalation in unlawful killings, noting that 32 prisoners died in custody in 2025, following 43 deaths in 2024.
Al-Ashqar accused Israeli occupation of continuing to kill unarmed detainees “in full view of the international community,” and criticized global human rights and humanitarian institutions for failing to prevent such practices.
He said the escalation intensified after October 7, 2023, with detainees subjected to torture, medical neglect, starvation, severe beatings, and sexual violence.
Since 1967, he said, 323 Palestinian prisoners have died in Israeli custody, including 86 in the past 27 months.
The Israeli occupation, he added, continues to withhold the bodies of these prisoners from their families.
Among the prisoners killed in 2025, 15 were from Gaza, seven from Jenin, four from Bethlehem, three from Hebron, and one each from Tulkarm, Ramallah, and Nablus.
Six were elderly, including five from Gaza over the age of 60, and one from Jenin. Al-Ashqar highlighted the case of 17-year-old Walid Ahmad from Silwad near Ramallah, who reportedly died due to systematic starvation during detention.
Al-Ashqar detailed severe torture methods employed in military-run detention centers, citing electric shocks, beatings, exposure to cold while naked, use of attack dogs, and medical neglect.
He named the Sde Teiman detention camp and new sections in Ofer and Negev prisons as among the most notorious.
Sexual assault against detainees, he said, was also documented in leaked videos and soldiers’ admissions, contributing to deaths and serious psychological trauma.
Warning that Israeli prisons have become “fertile ground” for the killing of prisoners, Al-Ashqar called for immediate intervention by the international community and human rights organizations.
He urged the formation of independent investigative committees and called on the International Criminal Court to hold Israeli leaders accountable for war crimes.
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