Staff at the Nasser Medical Complex in Gaza receive bodies of Palestinian prisoners released by the Zionist entity as part of the prisoner exchange deal with Hamas, November 3, 2025. Photo: Facebook/Jerusalem-alquds.
By Dayán González Ramírez – Nov 19, 2025
Their bodies were unrecognizable: many were malnourished, brutally abused, and the autopsies revealed a lack of medical care. These lines, which seem straight out of a horror novel, are taken from the Gaza Ministry of Health’s report on the bodies returned by Israel as part of the prisoner exchange deal with Hamas.
These were not Palestinians killed in bombings or military attacks, but those who were held in the custody of the Israeli armed forces.
According to a report by the NGO Physicians for Human Rights, since October 7, 2023, at least 98 Palestinians have died in detention centers or in the custody of Israeli soldiers. Of these, 68 were from Gaza and 26 from the West Bank. The report clarifies that these are approximate figures, as forced disappearances are a recurring practice by the Zionist entity.
As if these figures were not chilling enough, investigations by various media outlets such as The Guardian and +972 Magazine indicate that the majority of the victims were civilians.
The NGO concludes that “the killing of Palestinians in custody has become an additional instrument of the State of Israel’s oppression of Palestinians since the start of the war,” based on the fact that fewer than 30 Palestinians died in Israeli prisons between 2013 and 2023, a figure that has tripled in the past two years.
The document also reports illegal mass detentions, torture, denial of medical care, and the deliberate deterioration of prison conditions. These practices, which have occurred in both military prisons and those of the Israel Prison Service, are the result of systematic actions by soldiers and guards with the consent of their superiors.
US-Backed ‘Gaza Peace Plan’ Shuts Out Palestinians and Repackages Israeli Occupation
Impunity is also highlighted in the report, as protection is afforded to the perpetrators of these actions.
Multiple rib fractures, hemorrhages in the skin and near internal organs, and intra-abdominal lacerations are among the most recurrent signs observed in the bodies examined.
None of this is surprising after the statements by Israeli Interior Minister Ben-Gvir—who strolled around with pastries in the room where the death penalty for Palestinians was approved—in which he threatened to kill leaders of the Palestinian Authority if a resolution on a Palestinian state advanced in the UN Security Council. Without any hint of embarrassment, he said, “Orders must be given for targeted assassinations,” and added, “There is a cell prepared for him at Ketziot Prison,” referring to Mahmoud Abbas, president of the Palestinian Authority.
Through the constant violation of human rights and practices born from the most criminal and perverse minds, Israel is gradually shrinking the space for the Palestinian people to live. It is not just physical space: it is the fundamental space for the dignity and basic needs of millions of people.
(Cuba Sí)
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/SC/SF
