14 Palestinians have died in Israeli jails since Oct. 7: Palestinian prisoners group

By Ahmed Asmar

ANKARA (AA) - Fourteen Palestinians have died in Israeli jails since the start of the Israel-Hamas war on Oct. 7, a Palestinian prisoners’ affairs group said Monday.

Walid Daqqa, a 62-year-old writer who was the longest-serving Palestinian prisoner after 38 years in Israeli prisons, died Sunday due to cancer, said Palestinian rights groups.

In a statement, the Palestinian Prisoners’ Society (PPS) said that with the death of Daqqa, the number of Palestinians who have died in Israeli jails since Oct. 7 "as a result of torture, abuse, starvation and medical neglect surged to 14."

In addition, it said Palestinian Mohammad Abu Sneina from Jerusalem died in an Israeli hospital one day after his arrest on Feb. 18.

PPS also noted that according to Israeli media, two Palestinians from Gaza died in Israeli jails, but Israeli authorities did not reveal their identities.

Israel has detained at least 9,100 Palestinians whose conditions have worsened since the war in the Gaza Strip began on Oct. 7, according to Palestinian organizations concerned with prisoners.​​​​​​​

Israel has waged a deadly military offensive since an Oct. 7 cross-border attack by the Palestinian group Hamas which killed nearly 1,200 people.

Over 33,200 Palestinians have since been killed and nearly 76,000 others injured amid mass destruction and shortages of necessities.

The Israeli war has pushed 85% of Gaza’s population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

On March 25, the UN Security Council passed a resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire in Gaza during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. While Hamas welcomed the resolution, Israel rejected the cease-fire call and vowed to continue its war on the Palestinian enclave.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which in January issued an interim ruling that ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.