Hassan Kashahala, a 26-year-old former IDF combat soldier, passed away in January while being held in administrative detention at the Gilboa Prison.
His family was notified of his passing last month, but according to a report by Haaretz, no official information about the circumstances of his death has been provided to his family, and his body is still being held without burial.
Kashahala enlisted in 2020 in the Bedouin Tracking Battalion and served as a combat soldier for three years. His family notes that he participated in the war in Gaza.
In May 2025, the Shin Bet arrested him and two other suspects on suspicion that he belonged to the Islamic State terrorist organization and other crimes, including intentions to commit a terror attack.
A month later, the prosecutor announced that it would not indict him. However, on the day of his release, Defense Minister Israel Katz, at the request of the Shin Bet, signed a six-month administrative detention order, which was later extended.
Kashahala was imprisoned in the Gilboa Prison's security offenses wing, along with convicted terrorists. During a hearing at the Be'er Sheva District Court in August, he said: "I am in danger in prison. I'm afraid they will identify me as a soldier who completed a full military service. I'm afraid of dying here."
This week, Kashahala's family petitioned the Supreme Court to order the release of his body. The petition states, "From a combat soldier in the IDF to an administrative detainee who died under mysterious circumstances." The family added: "There is still to this day no reliable evidence that he committed a crime, and there is even no conclusion that the deceased was a 'terrorist.'"