RAMALLAH, Palestine

At least 54 Palestinian detainees have died in Israeli prisons since the start of the Gaza war on Oct. 7, 2023, according to prisoners’ affairs groups on Tuesday.

“The victims included 35 people from Gaza,” the Commission of Detainees’ Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoner Society said in a joint statement marking the Palestinian Martyr's Day, observed annually on Jan. 7.

The statement accused Israeli authorities of continuing to conceal the deaths of numerous detainees from Gaza in its detention camps.

The two groups said Israel is still withholding the bodies of 63 detainees who died in custody, including 52 since the start of the Gaza war.

“Many Gazan detainees remain victims of enforced disappearance,” they added.

According to Palestinian figures, at least 291 detainees have died in Israeli custody since 1967.

Tension has been running high across the occupied West Bank due to Israel’s genocidal war on the Gaza Strip, which has killed nearly 45,900 people, mostly women and children, since Oct. 7, 2023.

At least 835 Palestinians have also been killed and nearly 6,700 others injured by Israeli army fire in the occupied West Bank, according to Palestinian figures.

In November 2024, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.

*Writing by Mohammad Sio in Istanbul