Throughout 2025, Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli detention centres have faced a shocking surge in deaths, according to human rights researchers monitoring the situation. At least 32 detainees lost their lives last year, marking one of the deadliest periods for Palestinian prisoners in recent decades.

Riyad Al-Ashqar, director of the Palestine Centre for Prisoners’ Studies, described the killings as part of a broader pattern of systematic abuse within Israeli custody. He warned that prisoners have endured torture, medical neglect, starvation, and severe physical and sexual abuse, often in plain sight of international observers. The researcher highlighted that the escalation of violence in detention intensified following the events of October 2023.

Of those who died in 2025, fifteen were from Gaza, while others came from Jenin, Bethlehem, Hebron, Tulkarm, Ramallah, and Nablus. Among them were six elderly detainees, including five over the age of 60 from Gaza. Al-Ashqar drew particular attention to the case of 17-year-old Walid Ahmad from Silwad, near Ramallah, who reportedly perished due to prolonged starvation during detention.

He detailed some of the brutal methods reportedly used in military-run detention centres, including electric shocks, beatings, exposure to extreme cold while unclothed, attacks by trained dogs, and persistent medical neglect. Certain facilities, including Sde Teiman and sections of Ofer and Negev prisons, have been singled out as particularly notorious. Sexual abuse was also reported, documented in leaked recordings and admissions by personnel, contributing to both fatalities and long-term psychological trauma.

Al-Ashqar emphasised that Israeli detention centres have effectively become sites of systematic killing. He called on the international community to intervene immediately, establish independent investigative committees, and urged the International Criminal Court to hold Israeli leaders responsible for war crimes.