B’Tselem says at least 84 Palestinians killed in Israeli torture camps Submitted by Elis Gjevori on Tue, 01/20/2026 - 12:45 Rights groups say Israel’s prison system relies on torture, starvation and abuse, with scores of Palestinians killed since 2023 Employees at Nasser Medical Complex carry the body of a Palestinian prisoner who died in Israeli custody after Israel released his remains under a ceasefire agreement, in the southern Gaza Strip, on 31 October (AFP) Off Israel’s prison system has become a “network of torture camps” targeting Palestinians, according to new findings released by B’Tselem. The report details widespread abuse, deaths in custody and what the rights group describes as a deliberate state policy of violence. It said on Tuesday that at least 84 Palestinians , including one child, have died in Israeli detention facilities since October 2023. B’Tselem stressed that the real figure is likely far higher, as many cases remain unverified or concealed. According to the report, 50 of those killed were from the Gaza Strip, 31 from the occupied West Bank and three were Palestinian citizens of Israel. The rights group added that Israeli authorities continue to withhold the bodies of 80 Palestinians, refusing to return them to their families as of January 2026. Testimonies collected from released detainees describe what the group called systematic abuse across Israel’s prison system. Methods documented include “systematic abuse, including physical and psychological violence, inhuman conditions, deliberate starvation and denial of medical treatment”. Several former prisoners said they were subjected to, or witnessed, sexual violence while in custody. 'Coordinated onslaught' B’Tselem’s executive director, Yuli Novak, said the findings pointed to a coordinated campaign against Palestinians as a people. “The Israeli regime has turned its prisons into a network of torture camps for Palestinians, as part of a coordinated onslaught on Palestinian society intended to destroy their existence as a collective,” Novak said. “The genocide in Gaza and the ethnic cleansing in the West Bank are the most blatant manifestations of this policy,” she added. 'These facilities have turned into sites of torture, designed to break prisoners physically and mentally...' - Palestinian Prisoners’ Society Novak accused the international community of enabling Israel’s conduct through inaction. “Despite mounting evidence and numerous reports on Israel’s torture camps, the international community continues to grant this regime full immunity - effectively legitimising the continued torture, oppression and ethnic cleansing of Palestinians and abandoning the victims,” she said. B’Tselem said the abuse was neither accidental nor isolated. The report concludes that the policy is “declared, deliberate, and is coming from the very top”, with political backing and institutional protection. Israel’s national security minister, Itamar Ben Gvir, who oversees the Israel Prison Service, has publicly boasted about the treatment of Palestinian detainees, even revelling in their humiliation. B’Tselem said such statements reflect a broader culture of impunity. “He is not alone,” the group said, adding that the entire system works to shield those responsible from accountability. Fragmenting Palestinian society Parallel findings by Palestinian rights organisations reinforce B’Tselem’s conclusions of widespread Israeli human rights abuses. An annual report by the Palestinian Prisoners’ Society, the Palestinian Commission of Detainees’ Affairs and Addameer said prisoners have died under “severely inhumane systematic policies”. “These facilities have turned into sites of torture, designed to break prisoners physically and mentally through prolonged, deliberate suffering, and slow-execution policies,” that report said. Freed but not free: Ex-Palestinian prisoners face Israeli harassment and raids Read More » Published in December 2025, it documented at least 100 Palestinian deaths in Israeli custody since October 2023, based on information disclosed by Israel, while warning the true toll remains unknown. B’Tselem said that in September 2025, about 10,900 Palestinians were held in Israeli prisons in what it described as appalling conditions of extreme physical and psychological abuse. Following a prisoner exchange under the Israel-Hamas deal, after which Israel re-arrested many of the released Palestinians, the number stood at around 9,200 by January 2026. The organisation said Israel’s mass incarceration of Palestinians, with more than 800,000 detained over the decades, many without charge or trial, remains a central pillar of its system of domination. The prison network, it said, is used to fragment Palestinian society and enforce control through fear, violence and collective punishment. Inside Israel News Post Date Override 0 Update Date Mon, 05/04/2020 - 21:19 Update Date Override 0