Handcuffed Gaza prisoner 'falls to death' in Israeli detention

An unnamed Palestinian detainee from Gaza, believed to be in his 40s, has died after what Israeli authorities claimed was a "fall from height" inside a facility belonging to Israel's internal security agency, the Shin Bet, while his hands were cuffed.

According to Haaretz, which reported the incident on Tuesday, the death occurred in January 2024, but the man's identity has been withheld. Israeli sources claim he "fell while attempting to escape" during interrogation. The Shin Bet has refused to comment.

An autopsy revealed injuries consistent with a fall from a height and signs indicating the man had been handcuffed for a prolonged period.

Despite the detainee dying in Israeli custody, the Israeli justice ministry claimed the investigation into the cause of death had concluded and found no criminal suspicion. However, Haaretz noted that the case raises serious questions and at minimum points to "negligence" by Shin Bet officials.

Since the start of the ongoing war on Gaza, at least six Palestinians have died during Shin Bet interrogations.

According to the unit that investigates complaints against interrogators (Mivtan), three of the cases were closed with no criminal charges, while a fourth was dropped by court order. Two cases remain under review. The unit said it consulted Israel's national forensic institute in each case and conducted further investigations.

The Shin Bet does not publicly announce the deaths of detainees in its custody. Since the war began, the deaths of Palestinian detainees from Gaza held in Israeli prisons or military detention centres have been shrouded in secrecy and lack transparency.

In December, Haaretz revealed that one of the closed cases involved the killing of Dr. Iyad al-Rantisi, the director of the women's hospital in Beit Lahiya, northern Gaza.

He died in Shikma prison six days after his arrest in November 2023. Israeli authorities did not inform his family of his death; they only learned of it through the media.

The investigation into his death found bruises on his body, raising suspicions of violence. While the official cause of death was listed as a heart attack, as Rantisi had pre-existing health conditions, the findings led to speculation that injuries may have contributed.

Although no criminal investigation was launched against Shin Bet interrogators, the case was referred to the police unit responsible for investigating prison service officers.

Separately, the Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoners' Club announced on Sunday that Ahmad Saeed Saleh Tazazeh, 20, who had been held under Israel’s controversial administrative detention policy, had died in Megiddo prison.

According to a joint statement, Tazazeh was detained since 6 May. No further details were given on the circumstances of his death, which rights groups described as part of a pattern of systematic abuses in Israeli prisons, including torture, medical neglect, and starvation.

The two organisations said Megiddo prison, where Tazazeh was held, had become notorious for harsh conditions, especially the spread of scabies, which they say prison authorities had turned into a deliberate tool of harm.

With Tazazeh's death, the number of Palestinian prisoners who have died in Israeli custody since the start of the war now stands at 76, according to the Commission and the Prisoners' Club. These are only the confirmed cases with known identities amid ongoing enforced disappearances.

Since 1967, at least 313 detainees are known to have died in Israeli custody. The groups warned that the escalating rate of deaths reflects a policy of "slow execution" by the Israeli prison system, adding: "Not a month goes by without the announcement of a new [death] among the detainees."