PCS Staff
The Palestine Chronicle / August 1, 2024
Looking weak and disheveled, they arrived at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in central Gaza’s Deir al-Balah after being released at a military checkpoint east of the city on Thursday.
At least 15 more Palestinian detainees have been freed by Israeli occupation forces, recounting severe abuse and torture while in detention.
Looking weak and disheveled, they arrived at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in central Gaza’s Deir al-Balah after being released at a military checkpoint east of the city on Thursday.
“They broke our hands and feet,” one of the detainees reportedly said.
Held at the Ofer prison, the detainees said they were beaten, deprived of food, forced to remain in harsh physical conditions throughout the day, and attacked by dogs, the Quds News Network reported.
Last Thursday, the Israeli occupation released seven detainees, including two women, who testified about the extent of torture and abuse they were subjected to while in detention.
“The released Gazans were barely able to walk due to extreme fatigue, exhaustion, and pain resulting from torture, malnutrition, and lack of sleep,” a witness said and were taken to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital.
Israeli soldiers detained
On Monday it was reported that the Israeli military police arrested ten soldiers from the Sde Teiman prison to investigate charges of torture and sexual assault of Palestinian prisoners.
According to the Israeli Broadcasting Authority (KAN), ten Israeli soldiers severely beat a Palestinian prisoner from Gaza at the prison, causing serious injuries.
Recent reports from Palestinian, Israeli, and international human rights organizations indicate that torture at this prison has led to the deaths of dozens of Palestinian prisoners from Gaza.
‘Rampant violence’
In a recent Washington Post report, it was revealed that Palestinian prisoners are subject to “rampant violence” and “deprivation in Israel’s prison system.”
The paper reportedly spoke to 11 former prisoners and six lawyers, “examined court records and reviewed autopsy reports, revealing rampant, sometimes deadly violence and deprivation by Israeli prison authorities.”
According to the report, “the details of the prisoners’ deaths were recounted by eyewitnesses and corroborated by doctors from Physicians for Human Rights Israel (PHRI)”.
One former detainee described a prison guard “sexually assaulting him with a broom,” describing the prison as “Guantanamo.”
Thousands detained
The Israeli army has arrested thousands of Palestinians from different areas across the Gaza Strip since its genocidal assault on the enclave began last October. However, Israeli authorities refuse to give an exact number of arrests, reported Anadolu.
In the past months, Israel has released dozens of detainees, who have confirmed in their testimonies that they were subjected to abuse, torture and harsh interrogation.
In June, the Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor issued a new report documenting testimonies from released Gaza detainees who detailed the abuse and torture.
One detainee spoke of being “beaten and subjected to electric shocks” because he “refused to be injected” with an unknown substance.
An investigation by The New York Times last month confirmed that Israel was carrying out a policy of systematic torture at the Sde Teiman detention camp.
Reports of abuse at Sde Teiman had already emerged in both Israeli and Arab media, following outcries from local and international rights groups about the horrific conditions there.
In May, CNN reported that three Israeli whistleblowers working at the Sde Teiman detention camp revealed systemic abuses by the military, including prisoners being restrained, blindfolded, and forced to wear diapers.
They described “a routine search when the guards would unleash large dogs on sleeping detainees, lobbing a sound grenade at the enclosure as troops barged in.”
