Even as Israel and Hamas announced a ceasefire on Wednesday night, reports have come out of a 22-year-old Palestinian detainee’s death in Israeli custody after being held for over a year without charge or trial.
The Commission of Detainees’ Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoners Society confirmed on Tuesday that Ahmad Hatem Mohammad Khdeirat died while imprisoned in Israel’s Naqab (Negev) Prison.
Israeli authorities reportedly informed the General Authority for Civil Affairs of Khdeirat’s death.
Khdeirat, a resident of al-Thahiriyeh in Hebron, located in the southern occupied West Bank, was arrested on May 23 last year and detained in Israel’s Naqab Prison despite suffering from chronic diabetes.
He was kept in detention under harsh and inhumane conditions, a rights group alleged. His health reportedly deteriorated in recent months after contracting scabies, which caused severe itching and repeated seizures.
According to the report, Khdeirat’s health is said to have severely deteriorated in recent months after contracting scabies, which caused constant itching, recurrent seizures, and significant weight loss.
He reportedly experienced prolonged hunger, dangerously low blood sugar levels, and extreme weakness, making it difficult for him to move or perform basic tasks.
A lawyer who visited him in August said the young man had been bedridden for nearly two months and weighed only around 40 kilograms.
Reacting to the incident, UN Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories Francesca Albanese taking to ‘X’ wrote, “As everyone talks about the 50 Israeli hostages held by Palestinian factions, Palestinian hostages continue to die in Israeli jails: Ahmad Khdeirat died in Negev prison, where he was held without charges since May 2024: the 78th Palestinian to die in Israeli custody since Oct7.”
Quoting the Detainees’ Commission and Prisoners’ Society, the report condemned the death, described it as part of ‘a series of compounded crimes committed by the occupation system,’ and accused Israel of following a ‘policy of killing prisoners and detainees.’
According to the groups, Khdeirat’s death brings the number of Palestinians who have died in Israeli custody since the Gaza war began to 78, and to 315 since 1967. Dozens more remain unaccounted for due to alleged enforced disappearances.
The organisations further described the growing number of deaths as evidence of Israel’s “policy of slow killing,” pointing to reports of torture, starvation, medical negligence, and the spread of infectious diseases such as scabies within detention facilities, the report added.
The groups holding the Israeli authorities fully responsible for Khdeirat’s death have urged human rights organisations to intervene and ensure accountability.
Furthermore, they also called for sanctions against Israeli leaders, arguing that global inaction has enabled what they described as Israel’s “exceptional impunity” and undermined the credibility of the international human rights system.
Israel-Hamas agree for first phase ceasefire, says Trump
On Wednesday night, US President Donald Trump took to his Truth Social to announce an Israel-Hamas agreement on the first phase of the peace plan, which could put an end to the two-year war and also free hostages.
According to reports, the release is likely to take place on Saturday. “All of the Hostages will be released very soon, and Israel will withdraw their Troops to an agreed-upon line as the first steps toward a Strong, Durable, and Everlasting Peace. All Parties will be treated fairly!” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social.
The preliminary agreement was reportedly confirmed by Israeli officials, Hamas and mediator Qatar.
Hours after US President Donald Trump announced the Israel-Hamas first phase ceasefire agreement, the former has reportedly attacked Gaza. Plumes of smoke were seen rising over the region after the attacks, reported Al Jazeera.
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