Another Palestinian abductee dies in Israeli prison amid rampant ‘slow execution’

A 26-year-old Palestinian abductee has died in an Israeli prison, marking the fourth death of a Palestinian prisoner in recent days and prompting renewed calls for international intervention.

Sakhr Ahmad Khalil Zaoul, an “administrative detainee” from the town of Husan, west of the city of Beit Lahm in the south-central part of the occupied West Bank, died while being held at the nearby Israeli-run Ofer prison, the Palestine Chronicle online news outlet reported.

His death was confirmed on Sunday by several Palestinian bodies, including the Commission of Detainees’ Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoners’ Society (PPS).

Zaoul had been held under administrative detention since June 11. The regime uses the self-described method to jail victims indefinitely without evidence, charge, or trial.

His family said he did not suffer from any known chronic illnesses. His brother, Khalil Zaoul, remains incarcerated in Israeli detention facilities.

The Prisoners’ Media Office attributed Zaoul’s death to a systematic policy of “slow execution” against Palestinian detainees.

In a statement, the office said prisoners were subject to harsh detention conditions, including deprivation of basic necessities, torture, starvation, medical neglect, and prolonged physical and psychological abuse, which have led to a growing number of deaths inside Israeli prisons.

Holding Israeli authorities fully responsible for Zaoul’s death, the office called for an independent international investigation into crimes inside the detention facilities.

It also demanded immediate deployment of international monitoring teams to Israeli prisons, disclosure of the fate of forcibly disappeared detainees, return of the bodies of those who have died in custody, and accountability for Israeli officials through international sanctions.

The death came just four days after the death of Abdel Rahman al-Sabateen, a 21-year-old detainee from the same town, who died on Monday night at the Shaare Tzedek medical center in the occupied territories.

According to Palestinian prisoner institutions, the recent deaths represented the deadliest period in the history of the Palestinian Captives Movement, a national campaign championing the prisoners’ rights.

They brought to 323 the total number of confirmed Palestinian detainee deaths since 1967, when the regime occupied the West Bank during a heavily Western-backed war.

The Commission of Detainees’ Affairs and the PPS said the pace of the deaths had accelerated since Itamar Ben-Gvir, a notorious extremist figure, assumed office, becoming the regime’s “police minister.”

They noted that Israeli sources had also acknowledged an increase in deaths inside Israeli prisons and detention camps during his tenure.

The two bodies said Ben-Gvir has overseen an escalation in punitive measures against Palestinian detainees and has promoted legislation introducing the death penalty.

Human rights organizations, including groups based inside the occupied territories, have documented widespread abuse, neglect, and systemic mistreatment in detention facilities.

According to the Commission and the PPS, conditions inside Israeli prisons have exceeded legal and humanitarian limits.

They noted that since October 2023, when the regime launched a war of genocide on the Gaza Strip, the Israeli prison system, judicial bodies, and policing agencies had been tasked with operating a detention apparatus that inflicted sustained physical and psychological harm.

They cited reports of torture, starvation, medical neglect, sexual violence, and denial of basic rights, as well as the spread of infectious diseases such as scabies.

More than 9,300 Palestinians are currently held in Israeli prisons, along with hundreds more in military detention camps. Among them are over 50 women and around 350 children, according to prisoner advocacy groups.

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