Palestinian Prisoner Imad Rajeh Sarhan Dies in Gilboa Prison

Ramallah, June 14, 2026 — Israeli authorities notified the family of prisoner Imad Rajeh Sarhan, 47, from Haifa, that he died in Gilboa Prison following a heart attack on Saturday. No further details were provided about his health condition or circumstances prior to his death.

The Palestinian Prisoners’ Affairs Commission and the Prisoners’ Club stated that Sarhan had been detained since October 15, 2001, serving a life sentence. In his early years of imprisonment, he endured harsh interrogations and systematic torture, leaving lasting health damage. His condition worsened over time, compounded by repeated solitary confinement. He developed chronic cardiovascular diseases and hypertension, eventually requiring a wheelchair due to severe deterioration. Despite this, prison authorities continued to hold him under harsh conditions.

The organizations emphasized that Sarhan’s death reflects medical neglect and torture policies targeting Palestinian prisoners, intensified since the genocide against the Palestinian people began. They cited systematic practices of torture, starvation, medical neglect, and isolation, alongside denial of International Committee of the Red Cross oversight and family contact.

With Sarhan’s death, one of 118 prisoners serving life sentences, the number of identified martyrs among the Palestinian prisoner movement since the genocide began has risen to 90. Historically, the total number of prisoner martyrs since 1967 now stands at 327. The Commission and Prisoners’ Club held Israel fully responsible and urged international human rights bodies to move beyond condemnation toward concrete measures to hold Israeli leaders accountable for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

They stressed that escalating crimes inside prisons are part of the broader genocide against the Palestinian people, describing prison policies as “slow executions.” This phase, they said, is the bloodiest in the history of the prisoner movement. According to available data, as of June 2026, more than 9,400 Palestinians remain in Israeli prisons, including 3,324 administrative detainees and 1,316 classified by Israel as “unlawful combatants.”