A Palestinian detainee from Gaza died of torture at the notorious Sde Teiman Prison in southern Israel, according to prisoners' affairs groups on Monday.
“Omar Junaid was one of scores of Gazan detainees who died of torture at Israeli prisons,” the Commission of Detainees' Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoner Society said in a joint statement.
According to the statement, Junaid was arrested along with his brother by Israeli forces on Dec. 24, 2023.
While his brother was released four months later, Junaid was pronounced dead on June 17, 2023 by an Israeli group, the HaMoked Center for the Defense of the Individual.
According to the statement, at least 21 Palestinian detainees have died at Israeli prisons since the start of the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip on Oct. 7, 2023.
On Sunday, an Israeli military court extended the detention of five soldiers accused of sexually assaulting a Palestinian detainee from Gaza at Sde Teiman Prison.
Palestinian, Israeli and international human rights reports have recently indicated that detainees from Gaza have been tortured at the detention facility, which has led to the death of dozens.
Flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire, Israel has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza since an attack last October by the Palestinian resistance group Hamas.
More than 39,600 Palestinians have since been killed, mostly women and children, and over 91,600 injured, according to local health authorities.
Almost 10 months into the Israeli war, vast tracts of Gaza lie in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.
Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, which ordered it to immediately halt its military operation in the southern city of Rafah, where more than 1 million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.
