Gaza Herald – Palestinian prisoner Hatem Ismail Ryan (59) died in Israel’s Negev prison, the Civil Affairs Authority and the Palestinian Prisoners Club reported Thursday.
Ryan had been kidnapped on 27 December 2024 from Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza while working as an ambulance officer, alongside his injured son Muath, who remains in detention.
Family sources said Ryan had suffered a stroke shortly before his arrest but insisted on continuing his humanitarian work in the ambulance service until the moment he was taken into custody. His death comes amid a sharp rise in fatalities among Palestinian detainees in Israeli prisons, linked to systematic neglect, malnutrition, physical abuse, and inhumane detention conditions.
The authorities confirmed that 88 prisoners’ deaths have been documented since the onset of the Israeli assault on Gaza, including 52 from the Gaza Strip. The total number of Palestinian prisoners who have died since 1967 now stands at approximately 325. Nearly half of the more than 9,300 detainees are held without trial under administrative detention or classified as “illegal combatants,” including 3,358 under administrative orders and 1,249 under the latter designation.
The Civil Affairs Authority and Prisoners Club held Israel fully responsible for Ryan’s death and renewed calls for urgent international action to hold the occupation accountable for its abuses against Palestinian prisoners.
