RAMALLAH, (Palestine Foundation Information Center), At least 88 Palestinian prisoners whose identities are known have been martyred in Israeli custody since the start of the genocide in Gaza, according to the Palestinian Prisoner Society (PPS).
In a statement issued Sunday, the group said that 52 of the confirmed martyrs are from Gaza. The latest victim was identified as Hatem Rayyan, a detained ambulance officer from Gaza, whose martyrdom was recently announced.
The PPS said the prisoners died as a result of torture, starvation, medical neglect, systematic sexual assaults, and other forms of abuse, humiliation and deprivation. It described detention conditions as degrading and in violation of basic human dignity.
The rights group added that several detainees from Gaza remain forcibly disappeared, while dozens of others were subjected to field executions.
It said that images of prisoners’ bodies and remains returned after the ceasefire provided “conclusive evidence” of systematic extrajudicial executions carried out by Israeli occupation forces against detainees outside any legal framework.
According to the statement, this marks the deadliest phase in the history of the Palestinian prisoners’ movement. Since 1967, the total number of known Palestinian prisoners who have died in Israeli custody has now risen to 325.
In a related development, the Palestinian Commission of Detainees and Ex-detainees Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoner Society announced that Israeli authorities have renewed administrative detention orders for 51 Palestinian prisoners, including journalist Bushra al-Taweel from al-Bireh.
The two institutions said the orders include both new and renewed administrative detention terms, issued under the pretext of a “secret file.”
They accused Israeli authorities of escalating the use of administrative detention, a policy that allows prisoners to be held without charge or trial for renewable periods.
Administrative detention has long drawn criticism from Palestinian rights groups, who say it is used extensively against activists, journalists and political figures without due process.
The latest figures come amid mounting allegations by Palestinian organizations that the treatment of detainees has sharply deteriorated during the genocide, with widespread reports of torture, medical neglect and incommunicado detention.
