GAZA, (PIC)
The Palestine Center for Prisoners Studies said Israeli occupation authorities are committing war crimes against detainees from the Gaza Strip inside Israeli prisons, alongside the ongoing genocide in Gaza since October 7, 2023.
In a report issued on Thursday, the center warned that the continuing violations amount to either slow killing or the threat of executions under a recently approved law.
The center said Gaza detainees are trapped “between the hammer of deadly torture,” practiced against them from the moment of arrest and which has led to the martyrdom of 52 identified prisoners, and “the anvil of awaiting the implementation of the death penalty law,” which threatens the lives of hundreds more.
Riyad Al-Ashqar, the center’s director, said interrogators from Israel’s internal security agency, Shin Bet, practice various forms of internationally prohibited torture against detainees from Gaza, along with systematic abuse.
He said the abuse continues after interrogation ends, with detainees being humiliated and deprived of their basic rights in an effort to push them to “the brink of death.”
Al-Ashqar said Israel continues to bar lawyers and representatives of international organizations from visiting Gaza detainees, particularly those held in the “Rakevet” section of Ramle Prison, which prisoners call “the slaughterhouse.”
He said the underground section holds detainees in conditions resembling graves, allowing Israeli authorities to isolate them and subject them to various forms of abuse.
According to Al-Ashqar, hundreds of prisoners are subjected to grave violations during interrogation, including electric shocks to sensitive parts of their bodies, attacks by police dogs, and being kept handcuffed for long hours under the scorching sun with their heads forced downward.
He said detainees are also severely beaten, denied drinking water and, in some cases, subjected to rape.
After interrogations that can last for months, detainees are transferred to prison sections and cells where they are deprived of basic necessities, including showers for long periods, prayer, reading the Quran and access to clothing.
Al-Ashqar said the starvation policy has caused many prisoners to lose half their body weight, while physical and verbal assaults continue.
He accused Israel of continuing the crime of enforced disappearance against Gaza detainees, including both those still alive and those who have been executed.
Since the beginning of the genocide, Israel has arrested more than 15,000 Palestinians from Gaza, including children, women, wounded people and persons with disabilities, before later releasing thousands after varying periods of detention, he said.
Al-Ashqar added that Israel still holds around 1,800 detainees from Gaza whom it classifies as “unlawful combatants,” although most of them are civilians.
They include about 350 prisoners Israel refers to as “elite detainees,” as well as 360 medical workers.