Since the beginning of the Israeli aggression in the Gaza Strip on October 7, Palestinian detainees in occupation prisons are facing increasingly harsh conditions and inhumane treatment at the hands of the Israeli Prison Services (IPS).
Detainees are denied food and water, while sick detainees, in particular, those suffering from chronic illnesses, are prevented from receiving necessary medicine and treatment.
According to Qaddoura Fares, the head of the Commission of Detainees and Ex- Detainees’ Affairs, announced in a press conference in Al-Biereh on Thursday, that the Israeli occupation has recently escalated its attacks against Palestinian prisoners.
Fares stated that the repression units have attacked inmates with “sticks, axes and shovels”, causing fractures to the hands and feet of defenceless prisoners, and causing disfigurement.
He added that prisoners are exposed to humiliating treatment, including strip searches and obscene insults, in addition to having their hands tightly bound behind their backs.
Fares appealed to International Human Rights organizations to visit Israeli occupation prisons in order to document the conditions of the detainees, and to provide protection for Palestinian detainees.
Since the beginning of the Israeli aggression against the besieged Gaza Strip, the army has abducted an unknown number of workers from the Gaza Strip who were present inside Israel and in the West Bank.
On Thursday, 91 Palestinians from the West Bank and 50 from the Gaza Strip were abducted in the southern West Bank city of Bethlehem.
Yoav Gallant, the Israeli Minister of Defense, designated the Palestinian detainees from Gaza, whose identities and numbers are unknown, as “illegal combatants”.
Since October 7, the number of Palestinian detainees has increased to at least 10,000, including 1,000 from the occupied West Bank, of which 700 were transferred to Administrative Detention.
In a press release, the Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association stated that the occupation has abducted 850 Palestinians since the beginning of the Israeli aggression against the Gaza Strip.
The statement showed that Israeli forces, with the intent of seeking revenge against the people of Palestine, have invaded homes, destroyed property, and attacked citizens.
At least 900 Palestinians from Gaza have been abducted, and confirmed that the Minister of Defense issued an order declaring detainees from Gaza as “unlawful combatants” based on the “Unlawful Combatants Law” of 2002.
It added that since October 7, the IPS has applied retaliatory measures against Palestinian prisoners, including closing sections of the prison, denying visits, restricting electricity and water, and removing televisions.
The IPS have closed prison clinics, and denied prisoners from visiting outside hospitals and clinics, impeding their ability to access health care.
