Released Palestinian abductees recount abuse in Israeli jails   (Photo:  AFP)

Gaza City, June 15 (RHC)-- Palestinian abducteees recently released by Israel have recounted their suffering due to inhuman treatment and abuse at the hands of the regime’s jailers. 

The Palestinians displayed their injuries at the Kamal Adwan hospital this week.  They suffered as a result of beatings by the Israeli forces.  Palestinians held in Israeli detention since the start of the war in Gaza said they faced systematic ill-treatment by prison authorities.

The Palestinians were held without any charge.  They described abusive and humiliating treatment including holding blindfolded and handcuffed detainees in cramped cages. 

“We have left but we call on you to get the rest out,” said former detainee Ataa Shbat, at the Kamal Adwan hospital in Gaza, where he was taken following his release.  He said many detainees believed their families assumed they were dead.

“People are dying.  Torture which you cannot imagine unless you have to endure it.  Suffering which you cannot imagine unless you experience it,” he said.

Former detainee Aalam Hijazi said that “the prisoners were dying every day."  "There is no food or drinks or medicine. There is no food or clothing. The disease is eating their bodies and no one is looking at them,” said Hijazi.

“The water is not suitable for drinking,” he said. “I have worn these same clothes for eight months.”

The Palestinian Prisoners Association said on Wednesday six of the released Palestinians were from Gaza, including orthopedics surgeon Adnan al-Bursh.

More than 9,100 Palestinians from the occupied West Bank have been kidnapped by Israel since October 7, 2023, it said. Thousands have been “forcibly disappeared” from the besieged Gaza Strip.

Israel refuses to disclose the number of Palestinian abductees from Gaza.   Last week, Israeli authorities said they had begun transferring prisoners from Sde Teiman, a former military base in the Negev desert, after groups demanded the closure of the site.

At least 18 Palestinians have died in Israeli custody since October.  A UN report has accused Israel of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity as well as carrying out a war of extermination against the Palestinian people in Gaza. The report is prepared by an independent Commission of Inquiry set up by the UN human rights commission.

The finding suggests Israel deliberately and systematically targeted Palestinian civilians in breach of both international humanitarian and human rights laws.