Israel has confirmed, nearly two years after the fact, that a Palestinian detainee from Gaza died in detention, according to the Palestinian Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs. The Israeli Prison Service informed the commission on Sunday that Ihab Mohammed Abdel Qader Diab, 36, had died while detained. Palestinian officials state this case fits a broader pattern of Israel concealing the fate of detainees held since the war on Gaza began.
Diab was detained on December 12, 2023. The commission believes he died around September 18, 2024, after roughly nine months in custody that it alleges involved torture. While Israeli authorities claimed Diab suffered from an underlying health condition, his family rejected this, asserting he was healthy and had no illnesses at the time of his detention.
Diab’s death brings the total number of Palestinian detainees who have died in Israeli custody since 1967 to 328, including 91 since October 7, 2023, with 53 of those from Gaza. Gaza’s Prisoners’ Ministry holds the Israeli government and prison administration fully responsible, citing evidence of torture, medical neglect, and brutal detention conditions. The ministry has called for an international investigation, accountability, the return of Diab’s body, and the disclosure of the status of all Gaza detainees currently hidden by Israel.
The case surfaces amid growing scrutiny of Israel’s detention system. As of August, the Israeli rights group HaMoked reported that Israel was holding nearly 8,000 “security” prisoners, including 3,198 people in administrative detention—held on secret evidence without formal charges under indefinitely renewable orders. These figures exclude additional Palestinians detained from Gaza and classified separately by Israel as “unlawful combatants.”
Source: Aljazeera
