70-year-old Palestinian prisoner martyred in Israeli prison
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Elderly Palestinian detainee Mohammad Abu Habl, 70, from Gaza, was martyred in Israeli prisons after months of torture.
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Freed Palestinian prisoner Naeim Al Burai, 66, is welcomed upon arrival at al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, after being released from an Israeli prison, Thursday, April 10, 2025 (AP)
The Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoners Society announced the martyrdom of elderly Palestinian detainee Mohammad Ibrahim Hussein Abu Habl, aged 70, from the Gaza Strip, inside Israeli occupation prisons. The incident underscores the ongoing pattern of systematic abuse against Palestinian prisoners.
Abu Habl, a father of 11, was arrested on November 12, 2024, at the so-called “Civil Administration Checkpoint.” From the outset, he was subjected to physical and psychological torture until he was martyred on January 10, 2025.
The organizations stressed that his death represents yet another case in a continuing policy of slow execution practiced by the occupation against Palestinian detainees, particularly those from Gaza. These violations include starvation, denial of medical care, and physical and sexual abuse.
Systematic crimes and ongoing genocide
The total number of martyrs in the prisoners’ movement since the start of the ongoing aggression and genocide has risen to 71, with 45 confirmed from Gaza. Since 1967, the overall number has reached 308.
The Commission and the Prisoners Society held the occupation fully responsible for Abu Habl’s death and called for an independent international investigation. They urged global legal bodies to hold occupation leaders accountable for ongoing war crimes and to impose international sanctions that would end what they termed “exceptional impunity.”
Withheld bodies and calls for accountability
His martyrdom comes as the Israeli occupation continues withholding the bodies of martyrs and continuous obscuring of the authorities' actual treatment of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails. Legal complaints have been filed to determine the fate of missing detainees.
In a statement, Hamas warned against the continued use of torture and abuse against Palestinian prisoners and urged humanitarian and rights organizations to act immediately to ensure their protection.
As of early June 2025, more than 10,400 Palestinians remain imprisoned by the occupation, including 49 women, over 440 children, 3,562 administrative detainees, and 2,214 detainees from Gaza.
Read more: 'Israel' detained 1,200 children from West Bank since Oct. 7, 2023
