Administrative Detainee Dies in Israeli Prison, Rights Groups Report

Sakhr Ahmad Khalil Zaoul, a 26-year-old Palestinian held without charge, died Sunday at Ofer Prison, according to the Prisoners’ Media Office. The Civil Affairs Authority, Commission of Detainees’ Affairs, and Palestinian Prisoners’ Club confirmed the death.

Zaoul, from the town of Husan west of Bethlehem, had been held in administrative detention since June 11, 2025. Israeli authorities have not disclosed the cause of death.

The Prisoners’ Media Office attributed Zaoul’s death to what it called a “slow execution policy” against Palestinian prisoners, citing arbitrary detention without trial, torture, food deprivation, systematic denial of medical care, and physical and psychological abuse under conditions it said lack basic necessities for survival.

Zaoul is the 323rd Palestinian prisoner to die in Israeli custody since 1967, according to the organization. Of those deaths, 86 have been confirmed since the war on Gaza began, including 50 detainees from the Strip.

The Prisoners’ Media Office called on the international community to open an independent investigation into conditions in Israeli prisons, deploy monitoring committees immediately, compel Israel to disclose the fate of prisoners who have disappeared in custody, return the bodies of those who have died, and pursue prosecution and sanctions against Israeli officials.