Israeli occupation authorities are refusing to release the body of a 21-year-old Palestinian man who died inside Ofer Prison.

Moataz Nizam al-Atrash, from Hebron, died on 16 September after nearly a year in administrative detention before he was martyred, with no trial or formal charges.

How he died remains unclear prompting calls for an independent investigation.

The Palestinian Centre for the Defense of Prisoners (PCDP) has accused the Israeli occupation forces (IOF) and the ‘Israel’ Prison Service of being “fully responsible” for al Atrash’s death, alleging he “died of torture” inside Ofer.

Israeli authorities held al-Atrash for 11 months

Al-Atrash was the youngest of six children and lived in the southern occupied West Bank. The IOF took him from his family home on 5 October 2025 and placed him under administrative detention.

The occupation uses this measure to hold Palestinians indefinitely, without charge or trial, on the basis of a “secret file” not disclosed to the detainee or their lawyer.

This was al-Atrash’s first arrest.

His initial six-month order was later renewed. The family says they were preparing for his expected release around 3 October when the second renewal period ended. Instead, Israeli occupation police summoned his father to a station in Hebron’s old city on 16 September and told him his son had died in prison.

No details were given as to when, how or why he died and the family wasn’t told of any prior illness or medical emergency. In fact, they believed he was in good health.

Al-Atrash was ‘safe and well’, family told

Al-Atrash had no known health conditions before his arrest. When his lawyer visited him two months before he died, al-Atrash said he was well, sent greetings to his family, and showed no signs of illness.

A fellow prisoner released two days before al-Atrash’s death also told the family that he was “safe and well“.

It has been reported that Israeli authorities had forced his family to sign documents authorising the transfer of al-Atrash’s body to the Abu Kabir Forensic Institute, in Tel Aviv, for an autopsy, carried out with a family-nominated representative present.

So far, no cause of death has been publicly stated. The absence of any prior diagnosed condition, and the suddenness of the announcement, has fuelled demands for an independent investigation. Without transparent forensic findings and external oversight, it is unlikely that anyone will be held accountable.

Yet again, ‘Israel’ will be investigating its own crimes. But the autopsy, ordered by an Israeli court, is the only official route available to al-Atrash’s family to establish a cause of death.

Israel has killed 92 Palestinian prisoners since October

Al-Atrash’s death is part of a broader pattern of abuse in Israeli occupation prisons since the genocide in Gaza. It brings the number of identified martyred prisoners since 7 October 2023 to 92. This figure includes 53 detainees from Gaza.

The bodies of 100 identified deceased prisoners are also being withheld by the occupation. The practices of withholding bodies, and enforced disappearances, are carried out intentionally to compound families’ trauma and obstruct accountability.

Al-Atrash’s family fears that his body could be withheld indefinitely.

In a statement, the Palestinian Prisoners’ Society (PPS) attributed these deaths to systematic violations.

It said:

Data indicates that these prisoners were martyred as a result of a system of crimes and violations, including torture, starvation, medical neglect and abuse, sexual assault, mistreatment, humiliation, and the deprivation of basic human rights.

As of 18 September, 9,350 Palestinian political prisoners are being held in Israeli occupation jails, including more than 350 children and about 90 women.

• Of these, some 3,176 are under administrative detention.
• Another 1,393 detainees from Gaza are classified by ‘Israel’ as “unlawful combatants”.

These Palestinians, like Moataz Nizam al-Atrash, are also indefinitely detained, without charge or trial.

Israeli occupation must face justice

The lack of transparent charges, limited access to lawyers, repeated renewals of detention orders, and the continued refusal by ‘Israel’ to allow the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to visit Palestinian detainees, create conditions where deteriorating health can go unchallenged until it is far too late.

The Palestinian Centre for the Defense of Prisoners (PCDP) wants “full transparency” regarding al-Atrash’s treatment and the violations inflicted on him during his imprisonment.

The PCDP is also demanding his medical file, for the details of his detention conditions to be released and a full account of what happened leading up to his death.

Featured image via Middle East Eye

By Charlie Jaay

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