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Entrance to Ketziot Prison (2011)

Photo: Jack Guez / AFP

Police in Israel have launched an extensive investigation into the death of a Palestinian detainee. A total of 19 prison guards were interrogated in the affair and then released under conditions, it said.

According to the Reuters news agency, the dead man is said to be Thaer Abu Assab. He reportedly died on November 18 in Ketziot prison in the southern part of the Negev desert.

The newspaper "Israel Hayom" reported that the 38-year-old was from the West Bank and had been beaten with sticks in his cell and seriously injured. He was later found dead in his cell. An autopsy did not have a clear result.

The detainee was reportedly a member of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah organization. He had been sentenced to a long prison term for attempted murder, among other things.

Minister Ben-Gvir defends Guardian

According to the newspaper, the far-right police minister Itamar Ben-Gvir warned against prejudging the guards. "You have to keep in mind that our guards have to deal with human scum and murderers who pose a security risk," Ben-Gvir said.

In response to an inquiry, the Israeli prison authority said that several thousand security prisoners had been admitted since the beginning of the Gaza war in October. As a result, the challenges and dangers for the guardians have increased. In the case of incidents that need to be investigated, the prison authority cooperates fully with the competent authorities.

There had already been reports of the deaths of six Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails since the beginning of the Gaza war. The prison authority confirmed the examination of four cases.

According to the army, around 2420,1210 Palestinians have been arrested in the West Bank alone since the beginning of the Gaza war following the devastating Hamas massacre in the Israeli border area. Around <>,<> of them are members of the Islamist Hamas.

The human rights organization Amnesty International also expressed concern on Wednesday about the fate of Palestinian prisoners from the Gaza Strip. The organization called for an investigation into reports of alleged "mass disappearances" of Palestinian prisoners from the Gaza Strip.

fek/dpa/AP