Hamas accuses 'Israel' of torturing official to death in prison

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
23 Oct 2023 23:57
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The Hamas resistance movement, in a statement, accused the Israeli Occupation of assassinating the detained leader from Toubas, Omar Hamza Draghma, after he was detained at the beginning of Operation Al-Aqsa Flood.

Assassinated Hamas senior member Omar Hamza Draghma (Social Media)

The Hamas movement accuses the Israeli occupation of assassinating Palestinian prisoner and senior Hamas movement member, Omar Hamza Draghma, on Monday, while he was being held on administrative detention in Israel's "Megiddo" prison.

Draghma, the 58-year-old leader from Tubas, was arrested alongside his son at the start of Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, according to Palestinian sources, as part of a wide detention campaign led by the Israeli Occupation Forces across the West Bank.

In a subsequent statement, Hamas confirmed that the martyred prisoner, Draghma, was tortured to death while he was being held in an Israeli prison.

Since the start of Operation Al-Aqsa Flood on 7 October, the Israeli Occupation Forces have escalated their arrest campaigns, across the West Bank, in an unprecedented manner, arresting more than 1,215 Palestinians.

The arrest campaigns come in conjunction with escalations against Palestinian captives held in Israeli prisons.

Earlier this month, the head of the Commission for Detainees and ex-Detainees Affairs, Qadura Fares, warned against the rising brutal Israeli practices against Palestinian prisoners and stressed the importance of exposing the atrocities being committed against them.

"العديد من الأسرى الفلسطينيين تكسرت أطرافهم وأرجلهم وأيديهم وبعد عملية الضرب لم يتعرف عليهم رفاقهم"

رئيس هيئة شؤون الأسرى والمحررين قدورة فارس#طوفان_الأقصى #الثورة_الكبرى #فلسطين pic.twitter.com/cvnADJCUVC
— قناة الميادين (@AlMayadeenNews) October 19, 2023

In a press statement, Fares revealed that "many prisoners had their limbs, legs, and arms broken by the Israeli forces," adding that after the physical assaults, other prisoners "could not recognize them."

He added that al-Naqab prison "has become like Abu Ghraib prison, as it is a center of brutality and brutal behavior against the heroic prisoners," explaining that "Israel is making Palestinian prisoners pay the price of its failure [in Gaza], and it only acts with a tendency of revenge."

Addressing countries of the world, Fares said, "Raise your voices in support of the principles you uphold... or have you returned to your history as colonial powers?"

He reported that since October 7, the number of Palestinians detained in Israeli occupation prisons almost doubled, jumping from 5,300 to a shocking 10,000.

Fares had confirmed earlier to Al Mayadeen that the Israeli occupation authorities continue to cut off water and electricity from the prisoners and reduce their food portions, pointing out that "Beer al-Sabe' prison has turned into a new Guantanamo," in light of the "information received about the horrific torture against the prisoners."

The Israeli "National Security" committee approved on Tuesday a proposal for a law declaring a state of emergency in prisons, allowing for changes in the conditions of detainees, in conjunction with the launch of Operation Al-Aqsa Flood by the Palestinian Resistance fighters.

In this context, the Israeli authorities will be able to imprison detainees without a bed, in violation of the so-called "Residency Law".