Palestinian prisoner dies in Israeli custody

AL-KHALIL, (The Palestine Foundation Pakistan)Palestinian prisoner Ahmad Hatem Muhammad Khderat, 22, from the town of Al-Zahariya in southern Al-Khalil, died on Tuesday after suffering severe medical neglect while held in Israeli detention, the Palestinian Prisoners Affairs Commission and the Palestinian Prisoner Society announced in a joint statement.

Khderat had been held under administrative detention since May 23, 2024, without charges. During his imprisonment in harsh conditions at the Negev prison, his health rapidly deteriorated.

He suffered from chronic diabetes and, in recent months, developed scabies, causing severe itching, repeated convulsions, extreme hunger, low blood sugar, and difficulty moving or performing daily tasks.

By the time of his martyrdom, his weight had dropped to approximately 40 kilograms. According to a lawyer who visited him in August, Khderat had been unable to get out of bed for two months.

His martyrdom marks the 78th known Palestinian prisoner to die since the start of the ongoing genocide by Israeli occupation forces (IOF), with hundreds more detainees subjected to enforced disappearance. Since 1967, a total of 315 Palestinian prisoners have been confirmed martyred, according to official prisoner organizations.

The organizations emphasized that the continuing escalation in prisoner deaths reflects the IOF’s deliberate policy of slow killings in detention. Prisoners remain exposed to routine crimes including torture, starvation, sexual and physical assault, medical negligence, the spread of infectious diseases such as scabies, and systematic deprivation of basic human needs.

The Palestinian authorities held the IOF fully responsible for Khderat’s death and called on the international human rights system to take immediate and effective action to hold Israeli leaders accountable for war crimes against Palestinian detainees and civilians.

They demanded international sanctions to isolate Israel and end the exceptional immunity it continues to enjoy from some global powers, which allow it to operate above law and accountability.

As of October 7, 2025, more than 11,100 Palestinians are held in Israeli prisons, including 53 women, 400 children, and 3,577 under administrative detention, according to official Palestinian data.