Israeli Authorities Charge 12 Guards in Beating Death of Palestinian Prisoner

The Israeli authorities on Tuesday brought charges against 12 prison guards accused of beating a Palestinian prisoner to death nearly three years ago, a rare prosecution after repeated reports by human rights groups of abuse in Israeli detention centers. The guards were charged with reckless homicide in connection with the death of the prisoner, Thaer Abu Asab, who was from the occupied West Bank. A statement issued by prosecutors said that a dozen Israel Prison Service personnel had entered the cell he shared with eight other detainees during an evening head count in November 2023 and punched, kicked and, in some cases, beat them with clubs. Soon after, Mr. Abu Asab, who was 38, collapsed and lost consciousness. He was taken to the prison clinic and then a hospital, where his death was confirmed, the statement added. Prosecutors determined that he had died from the beating, which caused serious damage to his heart and respiratory system. The Israeli authorities in recent years have toughened conditions for what they call security detainees under the orders of the far-right minister of national security, Itamar Ben-Gvir, particularly after the Hamas-led attacks on southern Israel in October 2023 that ignited the war in Gaza. The Public Committee Against Torture in Israel, a rights group, says that more than a hundred Palestinian detainees had died in Israeli custody since October 2023. The group said this was the first case it was aware of since then in which charges were brought in the death of a Palestinian detainee. In a statement, the group said that dozens of Palestinian prisoners who had died “were healthy when arrested but were carried out as corpses” due to starvation, medical neglect or, as in the case of Mr. Abu Asab, “torture and beatings.” We are having trouble retrieving the article content. Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings. Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times. Thank you for your patience while we verify access. Already a subscriber? Log in . Want all of The Times? Subscribe .