Israeli security prisoner dies; prison service refuses to disclose cause of death

An Israeli citizen held as a security prisoner has died behind bars under unknown circumstances. The Israel Prison Service declines to disclose the cause of his death.

The deceased inmate is Hassan Issa Alkshalaa, a young man from the Bedouin city of Rahat, according to Arabic outlets.

He was reportedly detained in one of the facilities comprising the Beersheba prison complex and was due to go free in six months.

The prison service says that the circumstances of the prisoner’s death are confidential. The incident has been reported to police, according to the agency.

It is unclear what security offenses he was being held on. Unlike criminal prisoners, security inmates are detained for committing “security offenses,” which can range from deadly terror attacks to publishing what Israel deems incendiary content online. Almost all security inmates are Palestinian or Arab Israeli.

Alkshalaa is one of around a hundred security prisoners to die in Israeli custody since the start of the two-year war in Gaza, according to Physicians for Human Rights-Israel.

The past two years have seen Israel’s prison population expand even further beyond its official capacity, leading to acute overcrowding, as rights groups warn of increasingly dire conditions for inmates — particularly in security facilities.

A recent report from the Public Defender’s Office attested to security prisoners being subjected to malnutrition, widespread scabies and regular beatings by guards.

The worsening conditions for security inmates are a point of pride for National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, who regularly touts the drastic shift taking place on his watch.