(CNN) — At least 98 Palestinians have died in Israeli custody since October 2023, and the true death toll is likely higher given that a large number of people detained in Gaza are missing, according to a new report from an Israel-based human rights group, citing official Israeli data and other sources.

The report by Physicians for Human Rights - Israel (PHRI) is based on official Israeli records and data obtained through freedom of information requests, which it cross-referenced with forensic reports, interviews with family members and lawyers, testimonies from detained Palestinians, information published by other human rights groups and other individual inquiries to locate specific detained persons.

Palestinians died in custody from physical violence, medical neglect or both, according to PHRI, an Israeli advocacy group made up of medical professionals and human rights activists.

PHRI found that 46 Palestinians died in the custody of the Israel Prison Service since the outbreak of the war and that at least 52 Palestinians — all from Gaza — died in Israeli military custody.

“The fate of hundreds of Palestinians from Gaza detained by the Israeli military remains unknown to this day, suggesting that the true number of deaths is likely significantly higher than those documented here,” the PHRI report noted.

Israeli authorities stopped providing information to the Red Cross regarding Palestinians in custody in the early days of the war and barred access to detention facilities.

The last publicly available data that the Israeli military provided on deaths in detention was from May 2024, and the Israel Prison Service’s last provided data was from September 2024. After that, PHRI was able to document additional deaths using information from firsthand testimonies and official responses to requests submitted by the Palestinian Authority.

When asked about the allegations in the report, the Israel Prison Service (IPS) told CNN it “operates in accordance with the law” and that “all inmates are held according to legal procedures, and their rights including access to medical care, hygiene and adequate living conditions are upheld by professionally trained staff.” It added that it does not comment on figures or allegations presented by outside organizations.

“The claims described do not reflect the conduct or procedures of the Israel Prison Service, and we are not aware of the incidents as presented,” the IPS said.

‘Unprecedented’ number of deaths

“The unprecedented number of Palestinians who have died in Israeli custody over the past two years, together with clear evidence of deaths caused by torture and medical neglect, points to a deliberate Israeli policy of killing Palestinians while in detention,” Oneg Ben Dror, the project coordinator for PHRI’s prisoners and detainees department, said in a statement.

“These findings — and the ongoing failure of Israeli law enforcement to prosecute those responsible — turn Israeli law itself into a fig leaf and a tool for concealment,” Ben Dror added.

The report provides details on the deaths of Palestinians classified as “security prisoners,” which includes detainees held without charge or without trial.

While the identities of some of those who died in Israeli custody remain unknown, the report identified 73 of the Palestinians who died. Those named in the report include Dr. Adnan al-Bursh, 53, who was the head of orthopedics at Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza and died after reported signs of “physical abuse” in prison, according to testimony from a fellow detainee who has since been released. The report also named 17-year-old Walid Khalid Ahmad, who died following prolonged malnutrition, according to an autopsy report.

PHRI concluded in the report that Israeli authorities have waged an “unprecedented assault on detained Palestinians,” arguing that Israel’s far-right national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, took steps to “deliberately worsen conditions of Palestinians in Israeli prisons.”

CNN has reached out to the Israeli Ministry of National Security for a response.

Ben-Gvir previously advocated for the minimum conditions by law and said that “the conditions in prison add deterrence.” He also lashed out at the Israeli Supreme Court in September after it ruled that the state was not providing adequate food to Palestinian prisoners and must improve their nutrition.

Deaths occurred at nearly all Israeli prison facilities, which the report said “further underscores the systematic and ongoing nature of these killings in Israeli custody.”

Among those who died in Israeli prison facilities, 17 were from Gaza, 26 were from the occupied West Bank and three held Israeli citizenship, according to the report. The data shows that “on average, two Palestinians died every month in IPS detention facilities, with the number of deaths steadily increasing over time.”

CNN has previously reported on abuse, medical neglect and horrific conditions at the Sde Teiman field hospital at an Israeli military base that now doubles as a detention center in Israel’s Negev desert.

The PHRI report found that from the start of the war through August of this year, 29 detained Palestinians from Gaza died at Sde Teiman in the custody of the Israeli military, and further deaths were recorded at military camps in southern Israel, Ofer and Anatot.

Earlier this year, PHRI announced it was joining leading Israeli human rights group B’Tselem in calling Israel’s actions in Gaza genocide. Israel has strongly rejected the accusations.

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