Palestinian prisoners — nearly 7,000 of whom have been captured by Israeli troops since October 7th, 2023 — have presented evidence of widespread torture and starvation of the men, women and children currently being held in Israeli prison camps. At least eight have died from torture in the past four months.
“They brought Israeli civilians to watch our nude torture”, said Palestinian released prisoners to the Euro-Med Monitor human rights group.
The Palestinian Prisoners’ Society has called on international organizations to intervene to reveal the fate of hundreds of forcefully displaced civilians kidnapped from Gaza.
In the “Sdeh Teiman” and “Anatot” army camps, a number of detainees have been killed inside these camps without any confirmation yet regarding their numbers or identities, according to the Israeli newspaper Ha’aretz. The newspaper also pointed out that the detainees endure extremely harsh conditions, being handcuffed and blindfolded most of the time. There are children and elderly Palestinians inside the “Sdeh Teiman” camp, while women are held in the “Anatot” camp in addition to the “Sdeh Teiman” camp. Prisoners in these camps sleep on very thin mattresses on the floor.
In the same context, there are over 30 Palestinian female detainees from Gaza in Damon Prison, suffering harsh conditions. Among the prisoners are children, elderly, sick, and wounded women. The eldest among them is an 82-year-old suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. These detainees from Gaza are prohibited from communicating or interacting with other female prisoners in different cells within the prison. They have been barred from visits by lawyers until today. Moreover, they are provided with inadequate and poor-quality meals, and they are allowed only a short shower time, not exceeding 15 minutes, for more than 30 detainees. Additionally, their rooms are raided and searched daily.
Furthermore, two days ago, a large force of soldiers stormed the room of the detainees from Gaza, interrogated them, and transferred five of them to an undisclosed location.
According to the Palestinian prisoner advocacy organization Addameer, the occupying Israeli authorities have amended military orders and laws to facilitate the prolonged detention of Palestinians without due legal process. They amended the Unlawful Combatant Law multiple times, allowing the issuance of an unlawful combatant order for up to 42 days instead of 7 days. The judicial review sessions now occur within 45 days instead of 14, and detainees can be prevented from meeting their lawyer for 80 days.
Addameer released a full report on the situation for Palestinian prisoners in the four months since October 7th.
Regarding emergency regulations preventing detainees under interrogation from meeting their lawyers, the prohibition period extends to 90 days. These amendments, prolonging the duration detainees are prohibited from meeting their lawyers and the periods they must appear before a judge, constitute another form of enforced disappearance. Lawyers are unaware of the detainee’s whereabouts or the conditions they face. These amendments aim to prevent lawyers from monitoring and documenting the crimes and violations against Palestinian detainees.
Palestinian prisoner released from an israhelli prison with mental break down 💔🇵🇸
“They lock the door and cell and tied my feet, and set their dog free to tear me to shreds”
Many Palestinian detainees reported severe psychological strain. pic.twitter.com/5iGEwTjYNe
— Halima Khan (@khanhalima18) February 6, 2024
The Israeli army introduced Israeli civilians into detention centers and prisons holding Palestinian prisoners from #Gaza, permitting them to witness torture of the detainees, with many allowed to film them.https://t.co/5qxvKSmNxF@EuroMedHRAr @EuroMedHR @BrettWilkinsSF
— CAIR National (@CAIRNational) February 14, 2024
“He ordered me to kiss the Israeli flag, and when I refused, he banged my head against the wall”
The Palestinian released prisoner, Tamam Aswad, describes the humiliating way in which she was treated while being kidnapped from Gaza by Israeli occupation forces. pic.twitter.com/u5ppGm86KU
— PALESTINE ONLINE 🇵🇸 (@OnlinePalEng) February 12, 2024
Israeli soldiers are humiliating Palestinian prisoners every day pic.twitter.com/Myjehbdusv
— mohamed mohamed (@mohamedkhadar81) February 12, 2024
And this is How the Palestinian prisoners get out of Israeli jails. pic.twitter.com/MTwsF8v2vq
— 7.10.2023 (@Vpalestina71023) February 12, 2024
