Palestinian prisoners released from Israeli jails have reported abuse and collective punishment by Israeli guards following the Hamas attacks on Israel on 7 October. They have been hit with sticks, muzzled dogs, and their clothes, food, and blankets taken away. A female prisoner has claimed she was threatened with rape, and guards have tear-gassed inmates inside the cells. The Palestinian Prisoners Society alleges that some guards have urinated on handcuffed prisoners, and six prisoners have died in Israeli custody in the past seven weeks.
Israel claims all its prisoners are detained according to the law. Eighteen-year-old Mohammed Nazzal was released by Israel in exchange for Israeli women and children held hostage by Hamas in Gaza. He had been held in custody without charge since August and is unsure of why he was arrested. Nazzal was held in Nafha Prison without charge since August and is currently in a winding alley in Qabatiya near Jenin, where Israeli prison guards tried to provoke the prisoners by clapping and screaming their names.
Mohammed, a Palestinian teenager, was beaten and beaten by Israeli prison guards after being released from prison. His family provided medical reports and X-rays from Palestinian doctors in Ramallah, who confirmed that he had fractures in both hands. Mohammed initially experienced pain but stopped using his hands for toileting. He claims that other prisoners helped him and did not ask for medical help out of fear of being beaten again.
The Israel Prison Service disputed Mohammed’s story, stating that he had been examined by a medic before leaving prison and had no medical problem diagnosed. The prison service also released a video of the teenager leaving prison and boarding a Red Cross bus before his release, which it claims proves his claims are false. Mohammed’s first medical treatment was on that Red Cross bus.
A medical report from a hospital in Ramallah advised that a plate might have to be fitted if his fractures did not heal by themselves. The Red Cross has not confirmed Mohammed’s story, but they do not speak publicly about individual cases. Mohammed claims that the behavior of guards inside Israeli jails changed after the Hamas attacks on 7 October.
Palestinian prisoners in Israel have reported being subjected to violent beatings and other forms of abuse by Israeli guards. The prisoners were taken to Megiddo Prison and Nafha Prison, where they were beaten twice and more times than they could count. The Palestinian Prisoners Society has also heard of guards urinating on handcuffed prisoners. The Israel Prison Service has denied the allegations, but prisoners and detainees have the right to file a complaint that will be fully examined by official authorities.
A Palestinian prisoner, Lama Khater, released from prison earlier this week, published a video on social media alleging that an intelligence officer had “explicitly threatened her with rape” immediately after her arrest in late October. Israel denied these claims, stating that they were made by her lawyer and had been denied by the prisoner herself. The prison service has filed a complaint for incitement. The Palestinian Prisoners Society has also heard of cellmates being violently beaten on their faces and bodies, and guards urinating on handcuffed prisoners.
The Palestinian Prisoners Society reports a sharp increase in Palestinian deaths in custody since the 7 October attacks, with six people dying in jail since that date. Israeli prison service has not addressed this directly, but four prisoners have died on four different dates over the past weeks, and the prison service has no knowledge of the causes of death. In Qabatiya village, Mohammed Nazzal, a teenager who was once brave, has been left with a broken heart and terror. His brother Mutaz claims that the Israeli army had carried out an operation in the city of Jenin the previous night, demonstrating the fear and fear of the prisoners.
