New Administrative Palestinian Detainee Martyred behind “Israeli” Bars

By Staff, Agencies

The Commission of Palestinian Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoners Society [PPS] confirmed the martyrdom of administrative detainee Moataz Mahmoud Abu Zneid, 35, from Dura, al-Khalil, at “Soroka” Hospital.

Abu Zneid had been held in “Israeli” custody since June 27, 2023. He was married and had one child, and according to his family, he had no prior health issues before his arrest.

In a joint statement on Monday, the two organizations reported that according to a recent account from a detainee released from Ramon prison, Abu Zneid’s health deteriorated rapidly and severely. Despite his worsening condition, the “Israeli” prison administration delayed his transfer to the hospital, subjecting him to deliberate medical neglect. He was finally transferred to "Soroka" Hospital on January 6, 2025, and was declared dead on the night of January 12, 2025.

With Abu Zneid's death, the number of known martyrs among Palestinian detainees in "Israeli" prisons since the outset of "Israel’s" genocidal assault on Gaza has risen to 55, as per the statement.

This marks the highest death toll in the history of the Palestinian Captive Movement, making this period the deadliest since 1967, it added.

The Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoners Society [PPS] further reported that the total number of Palestinian detainee martyrs since 1967 now stands at 292, with many more detainees from Gaza still subjected to enforced disappearance. Abu Zneid is the fifth administrative detainee to die in “Israeli” prisons since the beginning of the ongoing war.

The two organizations described Abu Zneid’s death as part of a wider pattern of abuse, calling it a “new crime” in the ongoing “Israeli” campaign of brutality against Palestinians.

Abu Zneid, a former detainee who had been arrested five times, had previously gone on hunger strikes in protest of his administrative detention. His martyrdom, they said, highlights the systematic cruelty faced by Palestinian detainees, particularly in the context of the ongoing genocide against Gaza.

Both organizations condemned the inhumane treatment of detainees, which they termed a “humanitarian catastrophe” and another form of genocide. They reiterated that the conditions in “Israeli” prisons aim to systematically execute, assassinate, and erase Palestinian lives, with an alarming escalation of deaths expected as long as thousands of detainees remain in “Israeli” detention.

The Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoners Society [PPS] held "Israel" fully responsible for the deaths of the detainees and renewed their calls for international legal bodies to take immediate action to hold “Israeli” leaders accountable for the war crimes they continue to perpetrate.

They urged for sanctions against "Israel" and an international push to isolate the entity, highlighting the need to restore the role of international human rights systems, which they claim have failed to intervene in the ongoing genocide.

In a report published on its official website, PPS highlighted that the issue of administrative detainees has become one of the most significant developments accompanying the ongoing war. As of early January 2025, the number of administrative detainees has risen to 3,376, including approximately 95 children and 22 women. This group represents 32% of the total detainee population in “Israeli” jails, which exceeds 10,400 individuals.

According to the PPS, this is the highest proportion of administrative detainees in history, based on monitoring and documentation by human rights organizations. The surge in administrative detention began even before the current aggression and has since escalated dramatically. Prior to the war, there were 1,320 administrative detainees, a number that has now nearly tripled.

The PPS also shed light on the systematic abuses faced by administrative detainees and all detainees in “Israeli” jails. These include torture, starvation, medical neglect, and other systematic crimes. Since the war began, 54 prisoners have died in “Israeli” custody, four of whom were under administrative detention: Omar Daraghmeh, Samih Alawi, Mohammad al-Sabbagh, and Mustafa Abu Ara.