DayofPal—A Palestinian detainee died of severe torture after more than 24 years in Israeli prisons, during which he endured extended periods of solitary confinement.
48-year-old Imad Rajeh Mustafa Sarhan died on Sunday in Israel’s Gilbou Prison.
Sarhan, a resident of Haifa’s Wadi Nisnas neighbourhood, was arrested on 20 January 2002 and sentenced to life imprisonment and additional 10 years. He spent more than 24 years in Israeli custody.
His death comes as more than 98 Palestinians are known to have died in Israeli custody since the start of the Gaza genocide, amid mounting reports of torture, ill-treatment, and medical negligence in Israeli detention.
During his imprisonment, he was subjected to a series of punitive measures, including prolonged periods of solitary confinement.
He spent four consecutive years in isolation, with the order repeatedly renewed throughout that period, according to Palestinian prisoner advocacy groups.
More than 9,350 Palestinians, including children, women, and journalists, are being held in Israeli jails. According to the latest update issued on January 19 by Palestinian prisoners’ advocacy groups, from October 2023, when Israel launched its assault on Gaza, to this date, the number of Palestinian hostages doubled.
According to the Palestinian Prisoner Society (PPS), about 90 known detainees have died in Israeli prisons since the start of the Israeli genocide in Gaza. Among them are at least 51 detainees from Gaza Strip and a child, the highest number in history.
Since 1967, a total of 326 Palestinian prisoners have died in Israeli occupation prisons. The groups said the identities of many martyrs among Gaza’s detainees remain undisclosed, as the Israeli occupation continues to conceal them, making this the “bloodiest stage in the history of the prisoner movement.”
According to a newly-released report by Physicians for Human Rights–Israel (PHRI), based on data obtained from the Israeli army and Israel Prison Service (IPS), 98 Palestinians have died in Israeli prisons and military detention centers since October 2023, in many cases seemingly as a direct result of torture, medical neglect, and food deprivation by soldiers and prison officers.
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