The Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoners Society (PPS) confirmed the death 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.

35-year-old Palestinian hostage Moataz Mahmoud Abdul Rahman Abu Zneid died in Israeli custody. He had been held under administrative detention—without charge or trial—since June 27, 2023.

Six days ago, he fell into a coma, most likely due to torture, and was transferred to… pic.twitter.com/KrX5AHRX8C

— Ihab Hassan (@IhabHassane) January 13, 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.

Systematic brutality in Israeli prisons

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.

Administrative detention turned into life imprisonment: PPS

Last week, the Palestinian Prisoners Society (PPS) condemned the Israeli occupation's use of administrative detention, describing it as akin to a life sentence. The organization stated that the occupation authorities "have turned administrative detention into a crime that steals the lives of thousands under the pretext of a 'secret file', keeping detainees indefinitely subjected to this injustice."

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 prisoner 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 prisoners 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.

Administrative detention cases typically increase during wars and uprisings in the occupied territories. The occupation authorities frequently use this measure as a tool of oppression, control, and intimidation, with detention orders being renewed for detainees who have completed their initial detention terms — essentially extending their sentences without charge or trial.