Another Palestinian prisoner from Gaza dies in Israeli detention

RAMALLAH, Palestine

Another Palestinian detainee from Gaza died in Israeli detention, bringing the death toll of prisoners in Israeli jails to four in almost a week, prisoners’ affairs groups said on Thursday.

Ali Ashour Al-Batsh, 62, was held in the Negev Prison and was transferred to Soroka Medical Center in Beersheva in southern Israel where he was pronounced dead, the Commission of Detainees’ Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoner Society said in a joint statement.

Al-Batsh, a father of six, was detained by Israeli forces in Gaza in December 2023, the statement said.

His death brought to four the number of Palestinian prisoners who died in Israeli detention in a week.

According to Palestinian figures, at least 62 Palestinian detainees have died in Israeli captivity since October 2023, including at least 40 from Gaza.

Palestinian authorities estimate that at least 299 Palestinian prisoners have died in Israeli prisons since Tel Aviv’s occupation of the West Bank and Gaza in 1967.

Over 9,500 Palestinians remain in Israeli prisons. The figure does not include those arrested from the Gaza Strip whose numbers are estimated to be in the thousands.

A ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement took effect in Gaza on Jan. 19, halting Israel’s brutal war that has killed over 48,400 Palestinians, most of them women and children, and left the enclave in ruins.

In November, 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 military campaign.