Palestinian detainees released under the Gaza ceasefire deal show signs of severe abuse, with many requiring urgent medical care, Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor reports.
The poor health of Palestinian detainees released by Israel in the Gaza ceasefire agreements reflects the torture and abuse that they suffered “until the very last minute,” the Geneva-based Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor has said.
Hundreds of Palestinian detainees have been released by Israel in return for Israeli captives held in Gaza under the ceasefire deal that took effect on January 19.
“Grave for the Living”: The health status of Palestinian prisoners recently released from Israeli jails indicates their systematic malnutrition and torture https://t.co/wa7aMwZaTw
— Euro-Med Monitor (@EuroMedHR) February 1, 2025
“The majority appeared to be in a serious state of decline, with each of them losing several kilograms of weight due to what appears to be intentional starvation,” Euro-Med Monitor said in a recent report.
Following their release, many of the detainees “required immediate hospital transfers for critical medical examinations.”
“These circumstances demonstrate how Israel has transformed its jails into institutionalized torture facilities for Palestinian detainees and prisoners, including those who were convicted and imprisoned prior to October 7, 2023,” the organization said.
Psychological Torture
Until the final moments before their release, most of the detainees endured psychological torture in addition to mistreatment and beatings, it added.
“Detainees were subjected to severe torture, intentional starvation, and prolonged solitary confinement as part of punitive measures that ramped up brutally after the events in the Gaza Strip in an attempt to punish them for nothing more than the fact that they were Palestinians,” Euro-Med Monitor noted.
Since October 7, 2023, it said, the conditions inside the prisons have seen an unprecedented deterioration.
Where is the outrage? Where are these so called intentional law and human rights organizations?
A freed Palestinian detainee:
“Seven months with our eyes blindfolded and our hands shackled in iron.”
pic.twitter.com/hB3Fkqyr8D— Suppressed News. (@SuppressedNws) February 1, 2025
According to the testimonies documented by Euro-Med, the Israeli occupation forces also “tortured and beat the freed detainees, held them in buses with their hands bound for extended periods of time before releasing them, and subjected them to taunts and profanities that were intended to diminish their human dignity right up until the very end.”
According to a freed detainee, Haitham Jaber, detainees were forced them to shave their hair.
When Jaber refused, he was taken by force and his hair shaven completely.
“The inmates endure extremely harsh living conditions, and the most extreme forms of torture, abuse, and degrading treatment were performed against us until the very end, said Jaber.
Denied Access to Water
The detainees were humiliated by being made to stand in a single queue and occasionally asked to walk on all fours, he said, demonstrating how the prison guards treated them like “animals”.
In addition, they were denied basic rights like access to water, as each cell was only given one bottle of water per day. The restrooms, he said, were completely devoid of water, making it impossible for them to relieve themselves.
‘Outraged’ – Red Cross Slams Israel’s Treatment of Released Palestinian Prisoners
According to one of the freed youth who was released in the northern West Bank, every detainee suffered in the prisons, particularly from malnourishment and beatings.
The youth, unnamed to protect his identity, said that in order to avoid being detained again, he was made to sign a pledge not to speak.
He referred to the conditions in the prisons as “graves for the living.”
‘Pressure Israel’
The Euro-Med Monitor stressed that based on the testimonies of freed detainees, these practices “constitute a blatant violation of human rights and the rights of prisoners and detainees guaranteed by international law.”
“Beatings, humiliation, police dogs being let loose inside the section, suffocation with gas, forced stripping, and being made to lie on top of gas grenades were among the countless abuses carried out in prisons without reason.” pic.twitter.com/sLo5U3Q3dV
— Palestine Captives 𓂆 (@Palestinecapti1) February 2, 2025
The rights group urged the international community to “put pressure on Israel to immediately cease the crime of enforced disappearance against Palestinian detainees and prisoners from the Gaza Strip.”
Israel should also “make public all secret detention facilities, to reveal the identities of all Palestinians it is detaining from the Strip, their whereabouts and fates, and to take full responsibility for their safety and well-being.”
‘Reprimand ICRC’
Ramy Abdu, head of the Euro-Med Monitor, urged protest action against Israel’s treatment of Palestinian detainees.
“I call for a widespread protest against the sadistic practices of Israel towards Palestinian detainees,” he said on X on Saturday, adding that “Demonstrations must be held in front of ICRC offices.
I call for a widespread protest against the sadistic practices of Israel towards Palestinian detainees.
Demonstrations must be held in front of @ICRC offices.
I urge authorities in Gaza to expel @UNHumanRights representatives & reprimand @ICRC if a clear statement condemning… pic.twitter.com/7X0Y3fYYBb
— Ramy Abdu| رامي عبده (@RamAbdu) February 1, 2025
He also urged authorities in Gaza “to expel UN Human Rights representatives and reprimand ICRC if a clear statement condemning Israel’s atrocities against prisoners is not issued within 3 days.”
The Palestinian Resistance movement, Hamas, said the poor health conditions of the freed prisoners reflect “the brutality” of what Palestinians endure in Israeli jails, reported the Middle East Monitor (MEMO).
Hamas called the abuse of Palestinian detainees in Israeli jails “war crimes and crimes against humanity that require immediate intervention by the international community, the UN and the rights’ group.”
(PC, MEMO)
