The mysterious deaths of Palestinians in Israeli prisons

Thirteen Palestinian prisoners have died in Israeli prisons since October 7, said Qadoura Fares, head of the Palestinian Authority's Commission on Prisoners' Affairs.

with the BBC - Days after Hamas attacked Israel and the war in Gaza began, Umm Mohammed in the occupied West Bank received a phone call from her son in an Israeli prison.

"Pray for me, mother!", said Abdulrahman Mari. "Things are getting tougher here. They might not let me talk to you again." 

That was the last time she heard his voice. 

Conditions have worsened for Palestinian prisoners in Israel since October 7 last year, when Hamas launched its deadly assault on Israeli communities near the Gaza Strip, according to the Palestinian Authority's (PA) Commission on Prisoners' Affairs. ).

Thirteen Palestinian prisoners have died in Israeli prisons since then, "most of them as a result of beatings or denial of medication," said Qadoura Fares, the head of the commission. 
Abdulrahmani was among the first to die. 

A carpenter in the village of Qarawat Bani Hassan, he was on his way home from his workplace in Ramallah in February last year when he was arrested at a checkpoint. He had been taken into administrative detention - under which Israel can hold people without charge indefinitely - at Megiddo prison.

His brother, Ibrahim, said the charges against him were minor, such as participating in protests and possessing a weapon, but said he was also accused of being part of Hamas, although there were no specific charges against him. group activity. 

Ibrahim is still trying to find out the reason for his brother's death. He must rely on the testimonies of other ex-prisoners, and also on the reports of court hearings. 

One of the ex-prisoners, who was in the cell with Abdulrahman, said on condition of anonymity: "After October 7, it was total torture. They beat us for no reason, searched us for no reason. Even if you looked at someone the wrong way, he beat you." 

He described seeing Abdulrahman severely beaten. 

"At 9 am they came to our cell and started beating us. One of the guards started insulting Abdulrahman's parents, which he couldn't stand, so he started fighting with him. They beat him very badly and sent him to another cell, upstairs, for a whole week. During that time you could hear him screaming in pain." 

He said that he found out about Abdulrahman's death a week after he was released from prison. 

Israel's prison service did not respond to BBC questions about Abdulrahman's death or the 12 other Palestinians the Prisoners' Affairs Commission said had died. He simply said: "We are not familiar with the assumptions explained and as far as we know these assumptions are not true". 

Danny Rosin, a doctor who is part of the non-governmental organization "Doctors for Human Rights", participated in the examination of the body of Abdulrahman Mari. He corroborated what Abdulrahman's cellmate and brother said.

Rosini's report mentioned that bruises were seen on Abdulrahman's chest and that he had several broken ribs. Bruises were also seen on the back, left arm and thigh, as well as the right side of the head and neck.

Also included in the report was the additional police report which mentioned the "violent restraint" used on Mari six days before his death.

Rosini said in the report that while the specific cause of death has not been found, "it can be assumed that the violence he suffered, where he suffered several bruises and several severe rib fractures, contributed to his death." 

He also added that the "irregular pulse" or "heart attack" could have resulted from the injuries he suffered, without leaving any physical evidence. 

Israel currently holds more than 9,300 prisoners, most of whom are Palestinians, according to the Israeli rights group HaMoked, including more than 3,600 people in administrative detention. 

These figures do not include detainees from the Gaza Strip who are held in segregated facilities by the Israeli military. 

Qadoura has said that the change after October 7 "has affected every aspect of the prisoners' lives", suggesting that the prisoners are facing hunger and thirst and some of them, who are chronically ill, have been denied medicine. Beatings have become more frequent and brutal. 
"I met a detainee who lost 20 kilograms in the last three months alone," he said. "It is as if the war in Gaza was also a war on Palestinian prisoners. It was like a form of revenge".

Palestinian prisoners have described being beaten with sticks, dogs unleashed on them and clothes, food and blankets taken from them in the weeks following the October 7 attack. 

The Israeli prison service has denied mistreatment, saying that "all prisoners are being held in accordance with the law, while their basic rights are respected and are under the supervision of professional and skilled prison staff."

He said that the prison went into "emergency mode" after the outbreak of the war. Examples he gave included removing electrical equipment, turning off electricity in cells and reducing inmate activities. 

In the West Bank village of Beit Sira, Arafat Hamdani's father showed where Israeli police broke down the door of the family's home and entered at 4 a.m. on October 22 looking for his son.

Police covered his son's face with a thick black cloth and tied it around his neck with rope. The mask had a strong smell, he said, and Arafat seemed to have trouble breathing under it. 

"I tried to calm him down", said Yasser Hamdani. "It's okay. They have nothing against you. They have nothing against us. I kept telling him this as they were taking him out of the house. They took him with them."

Two days later a phone call came. Arafat was found dead in his cell in Ofer prison in the West Bank. 

Israeli authorities have not given an explanation for how he died. Arafat had type 1 diabetes and sometimes had problems with low blood sugar levels. 

His father said one of the police officers who arrested Arafat told him to take medicine with him, but it was unclear whether he managed to take it. 

Surgeon Daniel Solomon, who was present at the examination of the body of Arafat Hamdani after his death, according to the request of "Doctors for Human Rights", has written a report. 

Solomon said that the examination was held in Israel on October 31, but added that the condition of the body, due to prolonged cold, made it difficult to determine the cause of death. 

The report points to the lack of data on whether Arafat took medication for diabetes and in what dose. 
The report also mentioned the need for further tests after the autopsy to determine the cause of death. 

"Until now we don't know how he died. Nothing is clear", said Yasser Hamdani.
The bodies of Arafat or Abdulrahman have not yet returned. Their families want to schedule their own autopsies, hold their own funerals and say their last goodbyes. 

"He was my flesh and blood. Then after a short time it was no more", said Yasser Hamdani. 
Pictures of his son were everywhere in the apartment. 

Umm Mohamed showed photos of Abdulrahman from her phone, pointing to one and saying: “Look at him. He was very funny." 

"Over time he had become the leader of his group of prisoners. He would call me on the phone when he made breakfast for them while they were still asleep. He was always the most active. He never stayed in one place." 

She started to cry. 

"Give it back to me. I want to see him for the last time. One last look".