On Palestinian Prisoners’ Day, a young detainee from the West Bank died in Israeli custody, further fuelling outrage over the conditions faced by thousands of Palestinians held in Israeli prisons. Musab Hassan Adeili, 20, from the village of Aqraba near Nablus, died late Wednesday at Soroka Medical Centre, just days before his scheduled release.

His death marks the 64th confirmed case of a Palestinian detainee killed in custody since the beginning of the current Israeli assault, with at least 40 of the victims from Gaza. Rights groups fear the actual toll is higher, citing ongoing enforced disappearances and systematic obstruction of information.

Since 1967, 301 Palestinian prisoners have died in Israeli custody. Israel continues to withhold the bodies of 73 of them, including 62 killed since October 2023. Human rights advocates are calling this moment the deadliest in the history of the Palestinian prisoners’ movement, where brutality, medical neglect, and collective punishment have become standard practice.

The death of Adeili—on a day meant to honour prisoners’ resilience—was denounced by rights organisations as an emblem of Israel’s policy of “slow execution.” Testimonies and reports detail a grim picture of beatings, starvation, torture, and a growing health crisis inside overcrowded, unsanitary detention centres. Infections like scabies are reportedly spreading unchecked.

As the world remains largely silent, the families of detainees and human rights defenders demand justice. They urge the international community to end its complicity, impose sanctions, and hold Israel accountable for what many now describe as crimes against humanity.