Overview
- B’Tselem says Israeli authorities are withholding 80 bodies of Palestinians who died in custody and have not returned them to families.
- Testimonies from 21 recently released detainees detail sexual violence, forced stripping, severe beatings, dog attacks, starvation, medical neglect, and electric shocks in an interrogation “disco room.”
- Palestinian prisoner-rights groups report a higher toll, citing 32 deaths in 2025 and about 100 deaths in custody since October 2023.
- The group reports its evidence collection was obstructed by threats to re-arrest former prisoners who share accounts of their treatment.
- Israeli officials reject the allegations, while National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has publicly showcased harsh treatment of detainees and advanced a death penalty bill targeting “terrorists.”