According to the Israeli human rights organization B’Tselem, at least 84 Palestinian prisoners have died in Israeli prisons since October 2023 as a result of systematic abuse, including physical and psychological abuse, inhumane conditions, deliberate starvation, and the denial of medical care.
In a report released on Tuesday, the organization listed the names of the 84 detained prisoners, including one minor, as well as the locations where they died. However, Israeli authorities are still holding 80 of their bodies and refusing to give them back to their families.
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Israel has waged its genocidal war there for more than two years, and fifty of them fought in the Gaza Strip, where they had repeatedly broken a ceasefire in October. Three were Israeli citizens, and three were from the occupied West Bank. Because the organization only listed the deaths it was able to verify, the report noted that the numbers were likely to be higher.
As part of “a coordinated onslaught on Palestinian society intended to destroy their existence as a collective,” according to B’Tselem Executive Director Yuli Novak.
The most blatant manifestations of this policy are the genocide in Gaza and the ethnic cleansing in the West Bank, Novak said in a statement.
Based on the testimony of 21 Palestinians who have been released from Israeli prisons in recent months and on the work of Israeli and international human rights organizations, according to B’Tselem, its conclusions were made. According to estimates, there are about 9,200 Palestinians imprisoned in Israeli prisons.
In addition to sexual assault, forced stripping, severe genital injuries caused by beatings, dog attacks, and other types of object penetration, some of the interviewees also described it.
Other testimony highlighted the brutality of interrogations, particularly in a room known as the “disco room,” where electrical shocks were frequently administered while the prisoner was denied food and access to a restroom.
The findings confirmed a pattern of abuse that was already highlighted in B’Tselem’s report Welcome to Hell from August 2024. The international community continues to grant this regime full immunity, according to Novak, despite mounting evidence and numerous reports about Israel’s torture camps, effectively granting them full immunity.
Palestinian prisoners are initially imprisoned for six months in accordance with administrative detention, which is a quasi-judicial procedure used by the majority of Palestinian prisoners. Then, without giving a damn, can they be held on top of their detentions for an indefinite time.
In what critics refer to as sham military trials, where most Palestinians, including children, are tried in military courts and given lengthy sentences because of the lack of legal representation for Palestinians. In contrast, Israeli citizens are tried in civil courts, demonstrating a two-tiered justice system that treats Palestinians unfairly.
Palestinians’ bodies that Israel returned to Gaza in October have shown signs of torture and execution, and families have been forced to locate their missing loved ones through photos of decaying and mutilated remains.
According to Yair Dvir, a spokesperson for B’Tselem, “Israel must use all the means at its disposal in the framework of international law to stop it from continuing to commit these crimes.”
releasing prisoners from prison by sleeching
Israeli intimidation-related attempts to silence released prisoners hampered B’Tselem’s collection of evidence. Anyone who shared details about their experiences in prison was threatened by Israeli authorities to re-arrearrest them, according to the report. Before and after the prisoners’ release, threats were made.
According to the statement, “how Israel uses deprivation of liberty as a key means of oppressing Palestinians”
Israeli authorities have repeatedly refuted allegations of abuse, claiming that they abide by international law, but these claims contradict the government’s own officials’ assertions.
In a video that was shot while surrounded by bound prisoners lying blindfolded on the floor in November, far-right national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir bragged about the harsh treatment of Palestinian prisoners.
After Israel’s parliament passed a bill that would allow the death penalty for “terrorists,” Ben-Gvir, who is in charge of the Israeli prison system, was seen carrying sweets in the Knesset chamber a few days later. He is credited with bringing sweets to the Palestinians.
While Israel tries to deny the abuses, Ben-Gvir, the spokesperson for B’Tselem, said that “Ben-Gvir continues to produce public relations pieces and videos from these torture facilities, proudly showcasing the inhuman conditions and the abuse inflicted on Palestinian detainees.”
The report’s conclusion was clear. Israel is continuing its institutionalized, systemic torture and abuse of Palestinian prisoners, which is supported and supported by the political system, the judiciary, the media, and, of course, the prison authorities themselves, it said.
Source: Aljazeera
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