Palestinian Prisoners' Club: The occupation continues to commit the crime of enforced disappearance against thousands of detainees and martyrs from Gaza

SadaNews - The Palestinian Prisoners' Club confirmed that the Israeli occupation continues to commit the crime of enforced disappearance, which has been one of the most prominent aspects of the ongoing genocide for nearly two years, affecting thousands of people from Gaza, and has particularly escalated since the occupation forces carried out ground invasion operations in the region, among its victims were children and women.

The Prisoners' Club added, in a statement it issued today, Saturday, on the occasion of "the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances," which falls on August 30 of each year, that this crime has been the most prominent cover for the horrific torture crimes committed against Gaza's detainees, resulting in the martyrdom of dozens of them, emphasizing that two years into the war, specialized institutions still face a major challenge in obtaining accurate and clear data about the number of Gaza detainees and martyrs among them.

It pointed out the role played by the Israeli occupation's judicial system in entrenching the crime of enforced disappearance, by legitimizing torture crimes against Gaza's detainees, through the detention of thousands of them based on the "Illegal Combatant" law passed by the Knesset in 2002, which has provided a cover for the widespread practice of torture.

It indicated that the amendments made to the "Illegal Combatant" law at the beginning of the war also contributed to entrenching the crime of enforced disappearance, alongside the occupation's refusal to disclose any information regarding Gazan detainees or their numbers.

In this regard, a group of human rights organizations has submitted several petitions to the Israeli Supreme Court to reveal the identities of detainees and their places of detention, yet the court has consistently proven to be a key arm in entrenching crimes against Palestinians.

The Prisoners' Club clarified that the occupation's judicial system played a central role in enhancing the crime of enforced disappearance and the use of torture against Gaza's detainees, through the legalization of the detention of thousands of them based on the "Illegal Combatant" law.

It noted that the specialized institutions later worked, after amendments were made to this law, to uncover the fate of some of Gaza's detainees, through correspondence with the occupation army to inquire about them, and organizing visits for hundreds of them, during which unprecedented brutal practices against them were documented. It added that testimonies and statements issued by detainees represented the most significant shift that reflected the level of savagery practiced against them, and the systematic crimes committed by the occupation, primarily systematic torture from the moment of arrest, during interrogation, and after their transfer to prisons and camps, which led to the martyrdom of dozens of Gaza detainees.

The Prisoners' Club stated that although this mechanism has helped in uncovering the fate of detainees, the occupation army manipulated many of the responses obtained by institutions from it, thus it is essential that these responses remain limited to the army's narrative in order for institutions to be able to visit the detainees, while regarding the martyrs, the occupation continues to hold their bodies without any further details about them.

It indicated that the occupation has established and created special camps for Gaza detainees, the most notable of which is the "Sde Tiyman" camp, which has become the most prominent address for torture and murder crimes, in addition to the "Anataut" and "Ofer" camps and the "Neftali" camp and the "Reckavit" section of the occupation's prison system, which are the only camps and sections that human rights organizations have been able to visit some detainees held therein.

In this context, the Prisoners' Club affirmed that after nearly two years of genocide, the Israeli occupation authorities continue to use the crime of enforced disappearance against Gaza’s detainees, which constitutes a crime against humanity under the international treaty for the protection of all persons from enforced disappearance.

It renewed its call to the international human rights system to overcome the ongoing and systematic paralysis in front of the genocide and to take clear decisions to hold the State of Israeli occupation accountable and to stop its total aggression against the Palestinian people, including the crimes committed against detainees in the prisons and camps that extend the genocide.

It is worth noting that until today there are no accurate data regarding the number of Gaza detainees or those who were martyred as a result of torture or execution crimes, except for what was announced by the occupation’s prison administration until the beginning of August 2025, where the number of those classified by the occupation under the "illegal combatant" category reached 2378, while the number of martyrs among Gaza detainees whose identities are known to organizations stands at 46, out of 77 martyrs among the detainees after the genocide whose identities are only known to them.

It should be noted that the number of Gaza detainees in August of last year reached 1584, reflecting a doubling of the number of detainees from Gaza recognized by the occupation’s prison administration over the course of the year, noting that this number acknowledged by the occupation’s prison administration does not include detainees held in military camps.