RAMALLAH, (PIC)
The Palestinian children freed from Israeli jails as part of a prisoner exchange deal between Hamas and Israel said they were subjected to maltreatment in Israeli jails as some of them were tortured and cursed prior to their transfer to Ofer jail from where they had been released.
The freed detainees told Aljazeera that some of their fellow prisoners were tortured to death.
A 17-year-old prisoner who has been freed in the exchange deal said that the Israeli prison wardens beat the Palestinian prisoners and cursed them heavily prior to their release.
Another freed prisoner who had been arrested for five months under illegal administrative detention explained what happened on the day of their release, saying that Israeli occupation soldiers started roaming prisoners’ cells to take out those who would be released, and he was among them. They were kept in the cold outside of their rooms since around 8:00 in the morning before the Red Cross transferred them from Ofer prison, he added.
He said that they were routinely beaten and humiliated in prison, and that water and food were scarce. “They came in every week to beat us. They took all blankets and clothes and on one occasion they poured water on prisoners despite the cold weather.
The testimonies of those freed teens came as Palestinians have been anticipating the release of more detainees from Israeli jails today on Monday, the last day of the renewable four-day truce between Hamas and Israel.
117 Palestinian detainees, women and children, have been released from Israeli jails in three batches over the past few days. About 33 prisoners are expected to be released today amid reports of efforts succeeded to extend the truce with the release of new batches of Palestinian prisoners in exchange for Israeli captives.
