Palestinian prisoners released from Israeli jails tell of terrible impact of abuse
Relatives and friends of Palestinians jailed in Israel demand their release and the return of the bodies of those who died during incarceration, Hebron, 27 February 2024
Fayha Shalash reports in Middle East Eye on 24 April 2024:
Severely damaged skin, signs of fatigue, unkempt hair and long beards – this was the state in which a number of Palestinian prisoners emerged from Israeli prisons following six months of detention.
In the past few days, at the end of six months of renewable administrative detention, Israel released dozens of Palestinian prisoners from several jails – people who had been arrested in the wake of the start of the war on Gaza on 7 October.
The evidence of mistreatment shown by the prisoners is indicative of what rights groups have warned is an unprecedented level of abuse taking place in Israel’s jails.
Community activist Omar Assaf was among those released in recent days. Assaf, 74, was arrested on 24 October after his house in central Ramallah was stormed by the Israeli army. He was immediately transferred to administrative detention, which allows him to be held without trial or charge for as long as the authorities want.
After completing the first six months, he was released from Ofer Prison. His appearance at the prison entrance shocked both friends and family.
He told Middle East Eye that the prison conditions were indescribably cruel, and that his appearance speaks volumes about the condition of Palestinian prisoners. “They constantly assaulted the prisoners with severe beatings, using batons, rifles, and heavy shoes,” he explained. “There were prisoners with broken ribs and limbs without providing them with any treatment.”
‘They denied me treatment’
Palestinian prisoner groups say the Israeli army has arrested more than 8,000 Palestinians from the West Bank alone since 7 October, including 280 women and at least 540 children.
Rights groups have documented widespread mistreatment, with the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) last week releasing a report detailing – among other abuses – detainees being urinated on and made to act like animals, and children being attacked by dogs.
In January, while imprisoned, Assaf felt dizzy and fell to the ground, cutting his head and bleeding. He remained bedridden for two weeks without receiving any treatment.