Ramallah, occupied West Bank /PNN/
A 63-year-old Palestinian political detainee from Jenin, Mohammad Hussein Mohammad Ghawadra, has died in Israeli custody, according to Israeli occupation officials and Palestinian prisoner institutions. Ghawadra’s death marks the latest in a growing number of fatalities among Palestinian prisoners held under harsh conditions in Israeli jails.
Ghawadra, who was arrested on August 6, 2024, had been held for more than a year in Janot Prison—formerly known as Nafha and Ramon—before his death was announced. The Commission of Detainees’ Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society (PPS) said the circumstances surrounding his death remain unknown, citing what they described as a “complete information blackout” imposed by Israeli authorities.
The detainee was the father of Sami Ghawadra, currently held under administrative detention without charge or trial, and Shadi Ghawadra, a former prisoner deported to Egypt following a prisoner exchange earlier this year.
In a joint statement, the two organizations condemned Ghawadra’s death as part of a “systematic policy of slow killing” inside Israeli prisons, pointing to what they called “organized incitement” led by Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who has advocated for harsher treatment of Palestinian prisoners.
They said the death comes amid escalating violations inside prisons since the most recent ceasefire, including “compound torture crimes and field executions,” citing testimonies from recently released detainees.
According to the PPS, 81 Palestinian detainees have died since the start of what Palestinians describe as an ongoing genocide in Gaza, bringing the total number of confirmed prisoner deaths since 1967 to 318. The groups added that Israel continues to withhold the bodies of 89 prisoners, including 78 who died since the war began.
The institutions accused the Israeli Prison Service of subjecting detainees to severe physical abuse, starvation, and deliberate medical neglect, as well as the spread of infectious diseases, including scabies. They said the rapid rise in prisoner deaths reflects a “deliberate strategy” of mistreatment and denial of basic needs.
The rate of deaths among prisoners is unprecedented — hardly a month passes without a new martyr,” the statement said, warning that thousands remain detained under “life-threatening conditions.”
The groups held Israeli authorities fully responsible for Ghawadra’s death and renewed calls on the international community and human rights organizations to investigate alleged war crimes and hold Israeli leaders accountable.
They urged the United Nations and international human rights bodies to impose sanctions on Israel, end what they described as a “culture of impunity,” and restore the integrity of the global human rights system “paralyzed” by the ongoing
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