The Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoner Society announced on Sunday the martyrdom of Palestinian prisoner Sakhr Ahmad Khalil Zaoul, 26, from the town of Husan in the Bethlehem Governorate, while he was held in Israeli occupation prisons.

In a joint statement, the two institutions said they received official notification of Zaoul’s death through the Palestinian General Authority of Civil Affairs. They noted that the Israeli occupation authorities have so far refused to provide any information regarding the circumstances or cause of his death, continuing what rights groups describe as a long-standing policy of secrecy and deliberate opacity surrounding the fate of Palestinian detainees.

According to the statement, Zaoul had been held under administrative detention—a practice that allows imprisonment without charge or trial—since June 11, 2025, and was incarcerated at Ofer Prison at the time of his death.

Zaoul’s martyrdom comes amid mounting warnings from Palestinian human rights organizations over the deteriorating health and humanitarian conditions inside Israeli prisons. These organizations have repeatedly documented cases of systematic medical neglect, physical and psychological abuse, starvation policies, and the denial of basic rights, conditions they say have directly contributed to the deaths of several prisoners in recent months.

Prisoner advocacy groups stressed that Zaoul is one of a growing number of Palestinian detainees who have lost their lives in Israeli custody, raising serious concerns over the treatment of prisoners and Israel’s compliance with international humanitarian and human rights law.

In response, the Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoner Society renewed their call on the international community, the United Nations, and human rights organizations to take urgent action. They urged independent investigations into Israeli practices in prisons, accountability for those responsible for prisoner deaths, and the provision of international protection for Palestinian detainees.

They also reiterated demands for an end to administrative detention and for immediate measures to safeguard the lives and dignity of thousands of Palestinians currently held in Israeli prisons under increasingly harsh conditions. (ILKHA)