A Palestinian administrative detainee died on Tuesday, in an Israeli hospital after being held in occupation prisons for 16 months.
The Ministry of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoners’ Society (PPS) announced the death of the young man, Ahmad Hatem Mohammad Khudairat, 22, from Ath-Thahiriya town, southwest of Hebron in the southern West Bank.
The General Authority for Civil Affairs informed the organizations of the death of Khudairat in the Soroka Hospital in Israel.
The Ministry of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs and the (PPS) added that Khudairat has been held in the Negev prison under administrative detention, without charges, since May 23, 2024.
In a statement, the Ministry of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs and the (PPS) said that Khudairat’s death was the result of deliberate medical neglect, adding that he suffered from chronic diabetes.
The statement added that Khudairat’s health had been deteriorating progressively over a number of months, after being held in harsh, inhumane conditions in the Negev prison for the majority of his 16 month detention.
Khudairat’s weight has dropped to approximately 40 kilograms and according to the testimony of a lawyer who visited him in August, he has been unable to get out of bed for two months.
Since the beginning of the Gaza genocide on October 7, 2023, the number of Palestinian detainees who have died in occupation prisons has risen to 78.
Since the beginning of the Israeli occupation of Gaza and the West Bank in 1967, the number of detainees who have died in Israeli prisons has risen to 315, according to prisoners’ institutions.
The two institutions called for international sanctions and the isolation of the occupation state, in addition to putting an end to its exceptional immunity.
According to the Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association defines Administrative Detention (AD) as “a procedure that allows Israeli occupation forces to hold prisoners indefinitely on secret information without charging them or allowing them to stand trial. The secret information or evidence cannot be accessed by the detainee nor his lawyer, and can according to Israeli military orders, an administrative detention order can be renewed for an unlimited time. The court issues an administrative detention order for a maximum period of six months, subject to renewal.”
