GAZA, (PIC)
After 451 days of the brutal Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip, which has killed, injured, and detained hundreds of thousands, Israel renews its oppression of the residents of the Strip, boasting of its revenge by announcing today and yesterday the martyrdom of five prisoners it had detained during the period of aggression.
The Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees’ Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoners Society announced on Monday the martyrdom of four detainees from Gaza: (Mohammed Rashid Akka, 44 years old; Samir Mahmoud al-Kahlout, 52; Zahir Omar Sharif, 58; and Mohammed Anwar Labed, 57), raising the total number of martyrs announced in the past 24 hours to five.
The Commission and the Society also announced last Sunday the martyrdom of detainee Ashraf Mohammed Fakhri Abdul Wardah, 51 years old, from Gaza, in the hospital.
Martyrs of Gaza
In a joint statement by the Commission and the Society, they confirmed receiving the news of the martyrdom of the late prisoner Akka through the General Authority for Civil Affairs, while the family of the martyr Al-Kahlout received the news through the Israeli Hamoked organization, and the martyr Sharif through a private lawyer who obtained a document confirming his martyrdom in Ramon Prison. The martyr Labed was also reported through the Hamoked organization.
They indicated that all these responses were obtained from the occupation army or the occupation prison administration, confirming that it was the only way available to reveal the fate of Gaza’s detainees as allowed by legal amendments.
Evasion in responses
The Commission and the Society clarified that martyr Akka was arrested on 15-11-2023 while fleeing from northern Gaza to the south. He was married and a father of ten children, and according to his family, he did not suffer from any health issues. He was martyred in Negev prison on 30-12-2024.
As for martyr Al-Kahlout, he was arrested on 25-10-2024 from Kamal Adwan Hospital, having undergone surgery to remove parts of his liver and kidneys before his arrest. He required intensive care, and although doctors tried to prevent soldiers from arresting him, they forcibly detained him. He was martyred on 3-11-2024, just a week after his arrest; he was married and a father of three children.
Martyr Sharif had been detained since 7-10-2023 and was arrested while working in the occupied territories of 1948. He was a father of six children, and according to his family, he had no health issues. He was martyred on 18-10-2023. In this regard, the statement noted that the occupation army is trying to manipulate the responses that followed the lawyer’s inquiry, despite obtaining a document confirming his martyrdom in Ramon prison.
The manipulation was evident as the army provided different responses, once saying he was released from Ofer prison, and then claiming it was not authorized to provide details about his fate. This case is one of several monitored by organizations showing the occupation army’s deliberate manipulation of responses.
Martyr Labed was arrested on 18-11-2024 while fleeing from the north to the south with his family. He was a father of eight children and suffered from liver cirrhosis and diabetes before his arrest. He was martyred on 27-11-2024.
Humanitarian catastrophe
The joint statement indicated that the rise in the number of martyr prisoners represents a growing humanitarian catastrophe and a renewed confirmation of warnings that the occupation is systematically and openly liquidating prisoners.
They both emphasized that time is a crucial factor for the fate of prisoners, with the continuation of systematic crimes, primarily unprecedented torture, which will lead to only one outcome: the martyrdom of more prisoners and detainees.
The statement said, “With the announcement of the four martyrs, the number of martyrs among the ranks of prisoners in occupation prisons since the beginning of the genocidal war rises to 54 martyrs.”
They added that “these are only the identified prisoners in light of the ongoing crime of enforced disappearance against hundreds of detainees from Gaza, making this number of martyrs from the prisoner movement the highest in history of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, raising the number of identified martyrs from the prisoner movement since 1967 to 291 martyrs.”
The number of prisoners in occupation prisons recognized by the Israeli prison administration as of the beginning of December 2024 exceeds 10,300, while the crime of enforced disappearance continues against hundreds of Gaza detainees in camps operated by the occupation army.
Among the prisoners are 89 women, at least 345 children, and 3,428 administrative detainees.
Hamas: Crimes resulting from international inaction
For its part, the Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas, said that the martyrdom of five prisoners in Israeli occupation prisons in recent hours is a compelling proof of the brutality of the occupation and its detachment from all human values.
Hamas confirmed in a statement that “the escalating violations of the occupation against our prisoners, the crimes of enforced disappearance, medical neglect, and torture and abuse are the result of troubling international inaction and unjust American bias against our people.”
The Movement called on the Palestinian people to engage in massive activities to support the prisoners who are subjected to repeated assaults coinciding with the ongoing genocide and ethnic cleansing crimes in the Gaza Strip.
Torture of prisoners
For his part, the head of the Authority for Prisoners’ Affairs and Released Prisoners, Qaddura Fares, said that the families of the five prisoners announced as martyrs on Sunday and Monday all confirmed that their loved ones were in excellent health, indicating clearly that their martyrdom resulted from what the occupation practices against them, including beating, torture, and starvation.
Fares added that the evidence supporting the conclusion that the martyrdom of prisoners results from torture and abuse in occupation prisons is what occurred to the martyrs from the West Bank prisoners, as investigations after autopsies proved that their martyrdom resulted from one of two causes: either torture and beating or medical neglect.
