144 Gazan detainees have disappeared from Israeli prisons without explanation.

Israeli authorities informed human rights organizations that they are holding 2,790 detainees from the Gaza Strip. However, it turned out that 144 other detainees do not appear in Israeli data and their fate is unknown. The authorities have not explained their omission, according to a statement issued by the Committee Against Torture on Wednesday.

According to a statement from the Israeli authorities, 660 of the 2,790 detainees from the Gaza Strip were being held in Israeli military detention centers as of May 31.

The Israeli authorities responded by stating that the Anatot military detention center, notorious for its harsh detention conditions and torture of detainees, had been closed, and that the detention facility at the Amiad base, which was designated for holding Hezbollah fighters, had also been closed.

According to Israeli authorities, since the end of last year, 1,244 Gazan detainees have been released, most of them as part of the prisoner exchange in January, but 455 Gazans have been arrested. The Committee Against Torture noted that despite the decrease in the number of detainees, Israeli authorities still refuse to repeal the Unlawful Combatants Law.

"We call on the authorities to provide full explanations regarding the fate of the 144 detainees not mentioned in the data, and to immediately amend legislation that violates the fundamental rights of detainees," said Tal Steiner, director general of the Committee Against Torture.

She added, "The disturbing reports of torture in detention facilities and harsh living conditions, which have even led to the deaths of many detainees, demand an immediate investigation and a radical change in the care of detainees. The Unlawful Combatants Act allows for serious violations of rights and is inconsistent with democratic values and international law."

In February 2024, approximately four months after the war on Gaza, human rights organizations – the Committee Against Torture, Physicians for Human Rights, Gisha, Adalah, and the Center for the Protection of the Individual – petitioned to demand the repeal of the amendments passed by the Knesset under the "Unlawful Combatants" Imprisonment Law, which allow for the extension of temporary detention and the continued denial of detainees' access to lawyers. This petition was filed due to the severe violation of the rights to liberty, life, bodily integrity, and a fair judicial process, in a manner inconsistent with democratic values, without a proper purpose, and disproportionate to the rights of detainees.