By Palestine Chronicle Staff 
“Although my legs are amputated, the camp administration forces me every day to descend to the floor and lie on my stomach until the roll call for all cells in the section is completed. This occurs four times daily.”
The Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoners Society have reported an alarming surge in the number of detainees from Gaza amid Israel’s intensified military operations in the besieged enclave.
In a statement on Monday, the organizations highlighted that Israel continues to carry out forced disappearances against hundreds of detainees, leaving no clear data on the total number of those abducted from Gaza.
#Palestinians in #Israeli prisons face torture and neglect
Palestinian detainees in Israel’s Ofer Prison, located in the central occupied #WestBank, reportedly endure physical and psychological torture, starvation, and medical neglect. pic.twitter.com/oW9Ys9ilMb
— TRT World Forum (@trtworldforum) November 18, 2024
The Israeli prison administration “announced at the beginning of November 2024 that there are 1,627 detainees from Gaza classified by the occupation as “unlawful combatants,” noting that this figure does not include all detainees from Gaza, particularly those in camps run by the occupation’s military,” the statement said.
Testimonies from 15 detainees following a recent visit by the Commission’s legal teams revealed atrocities committed by Israeli prison authorities against them, “including all forms of physical and psychological torture, medical crimes, starvation, and sexual assault.”
Abuse of Paraplegics, Amputees
One of the most prominent practices reported in their testimonies is the systematic use by the camp administration of the cell doors’ slot (used to pass food or communicate) to “punish” detainees, the organizations said.
This is done “by forcing the handcuffed detainees to extend their arms through the slot up to their armpits, where the guards then strike their arms severely using various tools and twist them in painful ways.”
This type of physical torture “has become a regular daily practice without exception, targeting all detainees, whether minors, the sick (including paraplegics and wounded), or the elderly,” the statement said.
Testimonies from Palestinian detainees in Ofer prison reveal severe mistreatment, including physical and psychological abuse. Detainees report being subjected to beatings, solitary confinement, and denial of basic necessities. pic.twitter.com/aK6czQ8BqN
— Eye on Palestine (@EyeonPalestine) August 23, 2024
An amputee detainee testified that his fellow detainees in his cell “were forced to carry me so I could reach the slot and extend my hands out of it.”
“I was then beaten on my hands,” he continued, “and had them twisted as punishment for failing to leave the bed during the so-called (roll call/security check), even though both my legs are amputated.”
“Although my legs are amputated, the camp administration forces me every day to descend to the floor and lie on my stomach until the roll call for all cells in the section is completed. This occurs four times daily,” he added.
Since his arrest on February 15, 2024, the detainee has been continuously shackled and “suffers from severe pain in his hands, bruises, swelling, and intense burning sensations at the stumps of his amputated legs.”
Shackled Continuously
The organizations said his testimony “is just one of many shocking accounts from detainees,” among a series of ongoing practices at the camp, “including being shackled for over ten months continuously.”
Detainees also reported, “losing their sense of time, being denied knowledge of the time or access to tissues and soap, and being allowed to shower only once every ten days, with each detainee allotted only three minutes.”
Medical Negligence – Two Detainees, Including Hamas Leader, Die in Prison
The prisoner organizations highlighted the issue of the so-called “security checks/roll calls,” which it said, “constitute a tool of torture and abuse within the prison system.”
The Ofer camp administration conducts the roll call four times daily, from dawn until midnight. During these checks, detainees are forced to lie on their stomachs until the roll call for all cells is completed, a process that takes about two hours and is repeated four times a day, the organizations explained.
“Those who defy the roll call procedures face punishment, including physical torture, with the most common being the use of the door slot as described.”
Additionally, detainees recounted their experiences during transfers to court sessions, where they are taken at seven in the morning to a “metal cage” and “forced to sit in uncomfortable positions (on their knees or stomachs) until court proceedings conclude.”
Two Deaths
Last week, the General Authority for Civil Affairs, the Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs, and the Palestinian Prisoners Society announced the death of two Palestinian detainees in Israeli detention, namely 61-year-old Samih Suleiman Muhammad Alawi, from Nablus, and 44-year-old Anwar Shaaban Muhammad Asleem, from Gaza, Al-Mayadeen reported.
Execution of Palestinian detainees in Gaza! What would have happened if those who were executed were Israeli-imprisoned soldiers in Gaza? And what’s the story of the Palestinians killed by Israeli occupation forces after their release? pic.twitter.com/NAqNvFJz2q
— Eye on Palestine (@EyeonPalestine) November 14, 2024
The Commission of Detainees Affairs and the Prisoners Society said both Alawi and Asleem “were victims of systematic crimes committed by the Israeli occupation through slow death and deliberate medical neglect, compounded by repeated abuse and continuous maltreatment of detainees.”
The statement added that such crimes are part of a long-standing policy of the occupation against Palestinian detainees, ranging from torture to medical neglect, leaving them to suffer and succumb to illnesses.
Ongoing Genocide
Flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire, Israel has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza.
Currently on trial before the International Court of Justice for genocide against Palestinians, Israel has been waging a devastating war on Gaza since October 7.
‘Degrading, Shocking’ – Rights Groups Expose Israel’s Mistreatment of Gaza Detainees
According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, 43,922 Palestinians have, to date, been killed, and 103,898 wounded.
Moreover, at least 11,000 people are unaccounted for, presumed dead under the rubble of their homes throughout the Strip.
Israel says that 1,200 soldiers and civilians were killed during the Al-Aqsa Flood Operation on October 7. Israeli media published reports suggesting that many Israelis were killed on that day by ‘friendly fire’.
Millions Displaced
Palestinian and international organizations say that the majority of those killed and wounded are women and children.
The Israeli war has resulted in an acute famine, mostly in northern Gaza, resulting in the death of many Palestinians, mostly children.
43,922 Palestinians have been killed, and 103,898 wounded in Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza starting on October 7, 2023. pic.twitter.com/GUsoT4qi3U
— The Palestine Chronicle (@PalestineChron) November 18, 2024
The Israeli aggression has also resulted in the forceful displacement of nearly two million people from all over the Gaza Strip, with the vast majority of the displaced forced into the densely crowded southern city of Rafah near the border with Egypt – in what has become Palestine’s largest mass exodus since the 1948 Nakba.
Later in the war, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians began moving from the south to central Gaza in a constant search for safety.
(The Palestine Chronicle)
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