Israel Kills Palestinian Detainees from Gaza After Their Release

Palestinian captives were murdered and many others were injured on Saturday after being struck with an artillery round in eastern Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, hours after being released by the Israeli occupation.

Among those released was a survivor who informed Anadolu that the Israeli occupation freed about 15 Palestinians who were detained days ago while securing aid trucks.

“We were workers securing aid trucks and were arrested four days ago in the Gaza airport area, east of Rafah, while awaiting their arrival, the survivor who spoke on condition of anonymity narrated.

He explained that when they reached the main road in Rafah, the IOF “fired a shell at us, resulting in the deaths and injuries of approximately seven individuals. The other workers fled the area.”

Describing their treatment while imprisoned, he explained how the IOF “subjected us to physical torture and humiliation, throwing us on the ground, walking over our bodies, and even urinating on us.”

Released Palestinian detainees recount horrors in Israeli jails

Harrowing accounts of the suffering of Palestinian detainees in Israeli prisons are far from new.

Palestinian detainees recently released by the Israeli occupation have spoken out about their ordeals at the hands of the Israeli jailers, including inhumane treatment and abuse.

Palestinians, who were detained by “Israel” without charges since the beginning of the war on Gaza, have retold harrowing tales of systemic mistreatment by prison personnel and reported being beaten by Israeli troops. 

Speaking from Kamal Adwan Hospital in Gaza, they recounted violent and degrading treatment, including blindfolding and handcuffing inmates in small cages.

“We have left but we call on you to get the rest out,” implored former detainee Ataa Shbat from the Kamal Adwan Hospital in Gaza after his release.

Shbat expressed that many detainees thought they were presumed dead by their families.

“People are dying. Torture which you cannot imagine unless you taste it [experience it]. Suffering which you cannot imagine unless you experience it,” he recalled.

Former detainee Aalam Hijazi stated that “prisoners were dying every day,” as the lack of food and medicine was allowing diseases to “eat their bodies.”

He recalled wearing the same clothing since the war began, citing that even the water was not appropriate to drink.

A report by the Israeli newspaper Haaretz back on June 26 revealed that the Israeli occupation’s Prison Service has been concealing the actual quantities of food provided to Palestinian detainees held in Israeli occupation prisons since the launch of Operation Al-Aqsa Flood.

The revelation came to the forefront following a petition by the “Association for Civil Rights in Israel” (ACRI), which has brought this critical issue before the High Court of Justice, raising serious questions about the conditions under which these Palestinian detainees are being held.

According to the Israeli occupation’s Police Minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir the reduction in food supplies was implemented as a deterrent measure. However, this stance was not included in the official response to the court.

Ben-Gvir, in a statement, claimed, “There is no starvation, but my policy does call for reducing conditions, including food and calories.”

In turn, the Prison Service legal advisor, Eran Nahon, at the Israeli occupation’s Bar Association convention stated, “They [Palestinian detainees] will receive the absolute minimum required by law and by the conventions to which Israel is committed,” adding, “Not a gram more. This is a security purpose, but I don’t rule out that it could be policy. Policy is not a dirty word.”

Ben-Gvir confirms atrocities faced by Palestinians in Israeli prisons

Meanwhile, Israeli Police Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir confirmed Tuesday’s reports of the atrocious conditions being faced by Palestinian prisoners and defended the legitimacy of such measures. He emphasized that these steps were part of his campaign promises and aimed at minimizing the rights of Palestinians detained over alleged “terrorism” charges to the bare minimum allowed by law.

“Since assuming my role as [Police] Minister, one of my top priorities has been to worsen the conditions for terrorists in prisons and reduce their rights to the minimum required by law,” Ben-Gvir said. “This was a commitment I made to my voters and the people of Israel during the elections when I announced my intention to take on this role.”

Over the past year, before the outbreak of the war on Gaza, Ben-Gvir claimed to have led a fierce battle to make the conditions even stricter for Palestinian detainees and inflict more terror upon them

Following the outbreak of the war, Ben-Gvir declared success in implementing his desired sadistic changes. “The conditions for terrorists in prison were reduced to a minimum: we stopped financial deposits, canceled the canteens, removed electrical appliances from the cells, ended yard times for terrorists, drastically reduced their time in the showers, revoked the spokesperson status,” and made dire restrictions to their diet, he said.

Additionally, Ben-Gvir addressed the current overcrowding in prisons due to the detention of “wanted” Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza. He mentioned a specific military camp, Sde Teiman, where many detainees are held under harsh conditions.

The two Palestinians were abducted by IOF troops in March from Khan Younis using the pretext that they were suspected members of the Palestinian Resistance. When they were taken, they were still alive, and the IOF strapped them and put them in a truck. 

As a matter of fact, two Palestinian detainees taken from Gaza to the Sde Teiman detention facility in occupied Palestine were beaten to death by the IOF, according to what two sources told the Israeli newspaper Haaretz.

However, when they arrived at Sde Teiman, a temporary IOF detention facility near Be’er Shevam, they were already dead.