Category World News

After eight months in Israeli custody, Mahmoud Abu Foul could not see his mother’s face.

Abu Foul, a 28-year-old man from northern Gaza, was detained in Israeli detention facilities after being taken into custody from Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahiya in late December. He claims guards tortured and beat him so severely that he lost his sight.

As part of a US-brokered ceasefire agreement that has resulted in the release of nearly 2, 000 Palestinian detainees from Israeli detention centers, many of whom showed obvious signs of abuse, he was released this week.

Abu Foul, who had already lost a leg in a bombing in Israel in 2015, claimed that he was subjected to constant torture while imprisoned. Abu Foul endured numerous beatings and torture at Sde Teiman prison, which other detainees refer to as “the prison that breaks men.”

He was unconscious when guards struck him on the head with such force. He claimed that when he recovered consciousness, he realized that he had lost sight.

He said, “I kept asking for medical care, but all they gave me was one type of eye drops,” adding, “it didn’t work.” No one seemed to care, despite the fact that “my eyes were constantly tearing, with discharge and pain.”

He attempted a hunger strike to demand medical attention, but the prison authorities did not follow his demands.

Abu Foul anxiously waited for his family when he was finally released and transferred to Nasser Hospital. He feared the worst because he had been informed that northern Gaza was devastated. Then his mother arrived.

He said, “I tightly hugged her when I heard her voice.” Even though I couldn’t see her, hearing her was worth it.

Abu Foul is seeking medical assistance while currently residing in a tent close to ruins and is still receiving eye treatment.

His account is in line with growing body of evidence of systematic abuse in Israeli prisons. Many of the Palestinians who were released this week came out of hiding. During detention, a prisoner lost nearly half of his body fat.

The Palestinian Center for Human Rights found that torture was practiced in all Israeli prisons, not just at notorious locations like Sde Teiman, based on testimony from 100 former detainees who were detained between October 2023 and 2024.

Without the assistance of judges, attorneys, or family members, all were imprisoned incommunicado.

At least 100 Palestinians’ bodies that were taken into custody have been returned by Israel. Some of the corpses had signs of abuse, according to medical sources who told Al Jazeera, and some had suggested executions.

According to Dr. Munir al-Bursh, director-general of Gaza’s Health Ministry, “They did not die naturally; they were executed while restrained.”

Since October 2023, according to the UN, at least 75 Palestinian prisoners have perished in Israeli prisons.

Last year, Israeli rights organization B’Tselem described the prison system as a “network of torture camps” where detainees are subject to sexual abuse, denied food and medical care, and are repeatedly abused.

According to the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel (PCATI), an Israeli rights organization documenting torture, Israeli authorities have indicted only two people for each of their hundreds of reported abuse cases since October 2023.

Physicians for Human Rights – Israel founder Dr. Ruchama Marton claims her decades-long campaign has failed to stop the practice in Israel. In reality, she told Haaretz, “Maybe people didn’t deny it any more, but it eventually became standard.”

The prison service’s administrator, far-right national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, has defended the harsh treatment of Palestinian prisoners and said that “the time has come for the terrorists to spend in camps and be patient with them.”

Marwan Barghouti, a well-known Palestinian political leader and detainee, has also been filmed making fun of Ben-Gvir.

According to witnesses who witnessed Barghouti being brutalized by guards last month, Barghouti’s son earlier this week expressed concern for his father’s safety in an Israeli prison.

Arab Barghouti claimed that because his father is a unified figure among Palestinians, Israel was targeting him in an interview with Al Jazeera on Thursday.

The family informed media this week that they had received testimony from Palestinian detainees detained as part of the Gaza ceasefire agreement. Barghouti was allegedly beaten by guards in mid-September while transferring between two Israeli prisons.

In Israel’s prisons, approximately 9, 000 Palestinian prisoners are still imprisoned, many of whom have never gone through a proper legal process. Israel has refuted claims of systematic abuse, but it hasn’t provided proof to refute those claims.

After President Donald Trump threatened to impose sanctions on nations that supported the plan, members of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) voted to postpone a vote to support it.

Even though members of the London-based IMO, a United Nations body, had already approved the Net Zero Framework (NZF) in April, the vote on Friday delayed plans to regulate the shipping industry’s contributions to climate change by at least 12 months.

The International Maritime Organization is voting in London this week to pass a global carbon tax, which was President Trump’s decision to officially delay adoption until late in the year.

He warned nations to vote against the proposed Global Green New Scam Tax and warned that “the United States will NOT support it”.

Additionally, Washington threatened to impose sanctions, restrictions on visas, and port charges on nations that supported the agreement.

About 63 IMO members who had voted for the plan in April were expected to continue supporting emissions reductions ahead of the meeting in London, and others were expected to join the initiative to officially approve the framework.

Delegates in London instead voted on a hastily put resolution to postpone the proceeding following Trump’s social media threat, which received 57 to 49 votes.

The IMO, which consists of 176 member nations, is responsible for ensuring international shipping’s safety and security and preventing high-sea pollution.

Trump has focused on changing Washington’s position on climate change since taking office in January, deregulating fossil fuel use, reducing funding for clean energy projects, and promising businesses to “drill, baby drill”

A chance gone by

The decisions on Friday were “a missed opportunity for member states to place the shipping sector on a clear, credible path to net zero emissions,” according to UN spokesman Antonio Guterres.

More than 80% of the world’s fleet, or the International Chamber of Shipping, expressed disappointment as well.

Secretary-General of the Chamber, Thomas Kazakos, stated in a statement that “industrie needs clarity to be able to make the investments necessary to decarbonize the maritime sector.”

Still deeply committed, but disappointed! https://t.co/7P192kAvCx

The decision to postpone the vote by 12 months was “unacceptable given the urgency we face in light of accelerating climate change,” according to Vanuatu’s climate change minister Ralph Regenvanu.

However, Regenvanu continued, “We know that we have international law on our side and that we will fight for our people and the planet.”

China, Brazil, Brazil, Britain, and several other IMO members had reiterated their support before Friday’s decision.

Russia and Saudi Arabia were two of the nations who opposed the measures.

After discussions had lasted into the early hours of Friday, a Russian delegate addressed the plenary as “chaos.”

Among the nations that voted to postpone its introduction this week were Argentina and Singapore, two of which had previously voted in favor of the framework in April.

The Net Zero Framework (NZF) would have been the first global carbon-pricing system, giving ships a $ 380 per metric tonne on every extra tonne of CO2-equivalent they emit while rewarding vessels that use alternatives to reduce their emissions.

The IMO’s goal of reducing net emissions from international shipping by 20% by 2030 and by 2050 is outlined in the framework plan.

Shipping and the safety of seafarers are already being affected by climate change, including by altering ocean currents and increasing storm frequency.