A stark report from Physicians for Human Rights–Israel (PHRI), published Monday, finds at least 98 Palestinians have died in Israeli custody since the war on Gaza began in October 2023, with the true toll likely far higher amid mass detentions and missing detainees.

PHRI records 46 deaths in Israel Prison Service facilities and 52 in military custody. The rate—one death every four days in the war’s first eight months—marks a sharp escalation from the pre-war average of two or three annually.

Testimonies and forensic evidence detail beatings, sexual violence, starvation rations, and medical neglect normalized under far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.

High-profile cases include orthopedist Adnan al-Bursh’s death in Ofer prison; families often receive neither confirmation nor remains.

Beyond detention, Israel’s assault on Gaza has killed more than 69,000 Palestinians, including over 20,000 children.

Even after a mid‑October ceasefire freed over 1,900 detainees, Israel still holds at least 1,000 Gazans without charge, under a regime of impunity and lethal abuse.