GAZA, (PIC)
“I’m 62 years old. They hit me hard in the chest, and I have respiratory problems,” with these words, an elderly Palestinian recounts his recent experience in captivity after being released by the Israeli occupation forces, among thousands who were abducted during the aggression on Gaza, and no one knows their fate. Meanwhile, dozens of those who were released narrate terrifying chapters of Israeli crimes and inhuman torture.
A young man who was also recently released continues to narrate the tragic chapters inflicted by a criminal army and an immoral enemy on the Palestinian people, in full view and hearing of the entire world that claims to champion human rights. He says, “They electrocuted us and made us drink hallucinogenic and filthy water.”
Another recounts a part of the scene of torture and systematic humiliation by this brutal enemy, saying, “They burned me with a cigarette on my back and insulted me.” A fourth released detainee tells his story, saying, “They cut off my brother’s fingers, performed an electric shock on him, and when he told them that he was sick, they increased the torture.”
A barbaric aggression to break the will
Israel persists in carrying out its barbaric crimes and seek to break the resilience of Gaza. As one of the detainees recounts, they were forced to bark like dogs, deprived of drinking and using the bathroom, and left to urinate on themselves.
After three weeks of enduring various forms of humiliation, starvation, and torture, the Israeli occupation army released about 20 Palestinian civilians, including patients and elderly individuals, who had been arrested from their homes and shelter centers inside schools in the city of Gaza and the northern Gaza Strip.
Painful and shocking testimonies from the released detainees were reported, especially after revealing parts of their bodies bearing severe torture marks.
The released detainees confirm that the Israeli occupation army subjected them to psychological and physical torture during the harsh interrogation days, which focused on the leaders, members, and capabilities of the Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas, and other resistance factions.
Torture and Starvation
Due to their conditions, a number of detainees were admitted to the hospital for necessary treatment due to severe exhaustion caused by the methods of torture and starvation practiced against them by the occupying army, according to Marwan Al-Hams, the head of the Health Emergency Committee in the city of Rafah.
For its part, the Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor reported that the Israeli army continues to publish photos of Palestinians, both men and women, in degrading positions with the aim of humiliating them and violating their human dignity, which will have consequences for generations to come.
According to the Monitor, the majority of males are being arrested and transferred to preliminary investigation centers within the areas infiltrated by Israeli forces, where they are subjected to interrogation while being naked, handcuffed, and blindfolded. They are forced, under threat and torture, to provide information about other Palestinian factions. The Monitor confirms that some of them are later released, others are killed, and the remaining hundreds are transferred to detention camps within Israel, where they are subjected to inhumane detention conditions, systematic torture, and starvation. They undergo extremely harsh and illegal interrogations to extract information not only about their own activities but also about the activities of their families, neighbors, or individuals unknown to them.
No accurate count of the number of detainees
The Monitor pointed out that there is no accurate count of the number of detainees from Gaza so far due to the enforced disappearance policy pursued by Israel. The difficulty of receiving reports in the Gaza Strip is due to the dispersion of the population and the almost constant interruption of communication and internet services. However, preliminary estimates indicate the registration of more than 3,000 cases of detention, including at least 200 women and children.
According to testimonies collected by the Monitor from detainees who were released after several days of detention, they were subjected to various forms of torture, including beatings all over their bodies, blackmail, deprivation of food and water, degrading treatment, and were asked to glorify Israel and its army, insult themselves, and insult Palestinian factions. They were even prevented from talking to each other and were not given the opportunity to meet with lawyers or receive visits from the International Committee of the Red Cross. All of them were subjected to enforced disappearance throughout their detention.
These released detainees confirmed the presence of elderly detainees who were brutally beaten and humiliated. The detainees, including women, were handcuffed and blindfolded during their transfer and detention without food or water. They were met with violence and verbal abuse whenever they tried to ask for anything.
The released detainees were forced to walk for about 3 kilometers to reach the Palestinian side of the commercial crossing of Kerem Shalom, southeast of the border city of Rafah with Egypt. Meanwhile, hundreds of others, including journalists, doctors, paramedics, women, and children, are still detained by the occupation forces.
Calls for international action to reveal the fate of the detainees
In this context, the Mediterranean Monitor for Human Rights called on the international community to exert pressure on Israel to reveal the fate of dozens of women who were arrested from their homes and shelters, and to end the enforced disappearance of nearly 3,000 Palestinian detainees from the Gaza Strip, including minors.
The Monitor said that it had received information about the Israeli army’s arrest of hundreds of Palestinians in the past few days from the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood in Gaza City, including dozens of women who were taken to the Yarmouk Stadium, where their veils were removed and they were searched by soldiers. Many of them were subjected to explicit harassment, beatings, and abuse.
It added that males, including minors as young as 10 years old, were forced to fully undress, except for their underwear (boxers), including elderly people over the age of 70. They were humiliated by being forced to line up in a degrading manner in front of the detained women in a nearby area within the stadium.
