Two more Palestinian prisoners from Gaza die in Israeli prisons: Rights groups

Two more Palestinian detainees from Gaza died in Israeli prisons, prisoners' rights groups unveiled on Wednesday.

The Israeli army confirmed the death of Mohammed Al-Asali, 35, and Ibrahim Ashour, 25, in detention, the Commission of Detainees' Affairs, the Palestinian Prisoner Society, and the Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association said in a joint statement.

According to the statement, Asali died in prison on May 17, 2024, while Ashour breathed his last on June 23, 2024.

Asali was arrested by Israeli forces from Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City in March, while Ashour was taken into custody from Nasser Hospital in the southern city of Khan Younis on Feb. 14.

“The death of the two detainees adds a new crime in the record of the Israeli brutality system, which has reached its peak since the start of the war of extermination" in Gaza, the rights groups said.

“The Israeli occupation not only kills detainees but also deliberately manipulates responses regarding their fate,” they added.

According to Palestinian figures, at least 58 detainees have died in Israeli prisons since Oct. 7, 2023, including 37 prisoners from Gaza.

Thousands of Palestinians are believed to have been detained by the Israeli army in Gaza during its genocidal war on the enclave.

Human rights organizations have warned that more prisoners might die in Israeli prisons amid systematic torture, starvation, medical neglect, physical assaults, and sexual violence against the detainees.

A ceasefire agreement took effect in Gaza on Jan. 19, halting Israel's genocidal war that has killed more than 47,300 Palestinians, most of them women and children, and injured more than 111,400 since Oct. 7, 2023.

The Israeli onslaught has left more than 11,000 people missing, with widespread destruction and a humanitarian crisis that has claimed the lives of many elderly people and children in one of the worst global humanitarian disasters ever.

The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants in November last year for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.