The death toll for Palestinians in Israeli detention continues to rise. Three captives have died in the past week.

According to the Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs Commission and the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society, Khaled Mahmoud Qasim Abdullah died in Israel’s Megiddo Prison on February 23. A total of three Palestinians died that week. 

The Israeli outlet Haaretz has previously documented horrific abuse at the facility. “Detainees and prisoners at Megiddo Prison in northern Israel have reported several cases of harsh violence and abuse carried out by prison wardens,” the outlet explained. The torture included “guards kicking, punching, hitting their testicles, and humiliating prisoners. Some testified that a prisoner who was beaten died of his injuries.”

The death toll for Palestinians in Israeli detention has soared to 61 since Hamas’ October 7, 2023 attack, the deadliest period in the history of the Israeli occupation. 

Throughout the conflict, Tel Aviv has sent tens of thousands of Palestinians into a series of prisons, where the detainees show signs of torture. Under the ceasefire and hostage exchange, several released Palestinians who were released from Israeli prisons have reported being beaten and tortured. 

Many Palestinians held by the Israelis are medical workers who were desperately trying to provide emergency care in Gaza. Last year, speaking with the BBC, three Palestinian medics said “they were humiliated, beaten, doused with cold water, and forced to kneel in uncomfortable positions for hours,” also noting they were “detained for days before being released.”

Additionally, the UN’s Palestinian aid agency (UNRWA) says its employees were tortured by Israel to generate false confessions that the organization was tied to Hamas. “Agency staff members have been subject to threats and coercion by the Israeli authorities while in detention, and pressured to make false statements against the Agency,” a report issued by the agency explained. “Including that the Agency has affiliations with Hamas and that UNRWA staff members took part in the 7 October 2023 atrocities.”

A second report from UNRWA detailed the severe abuses faced by Palestinian detainees. “Ill-treatment…included being subjected to beatings while made to lie on a thin mattress on top of rubble for hours without food, water or access to a toilet, with their legs and hands bound with plastic ties,” the aid agency said. 

“Several detainees reported being forced into cages and attacked by dogs. Some released detainees, including a child, had dog bite wounds on their body,” the report continued. “Detainees were threatened with prolonged detention, injury, or the killing of family members if they did not provide the requested information.”

Some allegations of abuse have even seeped into the American press. “Our life became zero. We didn’t mean anything to them. They treated us less than the animals. Beating, abusing, torturing, everything you could imagine,” one former detainee explained to NBC News. “I was sexually harassed.” 

Still the rampant Israeli abuse, torture, and killing of Palestinian detainees has not stopped the Trump administration from approving billions in arms for Tel Aviv, often paid for with American military aid.