Shackled, starved: A look into the reality of Palestinian detainees
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The Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs has raised concerns about the harsh conditions experienced by detainees in Israeli prisons.
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Palestinian detainees released by Israeli occupation forces through the Karem Abu Salem crossing wait to receive treatment after they were subjected to torture by IOF, on December 23, 2023. (AP)
The Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs has highlighted alarming conditions faced by detainees in Israeli prisons. Recent visitations to the al-Naqab and Megiddo prisons revealed that detainees are brought to visits in handcuffs, with prison authorities refusing to remove the restraints despite legal objections.
This treatment, as per the commission, imposes significant psychological strain and hinders basic tasks, such as signing documents or holding communication devices during visits. Additionally, the detainees show signs of severe weight loss, attributed to long-term malnutrition and punitive measures enforced for over a year, raising serious concerns about their well-being and treatment.
Reports on detainees' dire conditions during visits
The commission has provided an update on detainees' conditions following recent visits to al-Naqab and Megiddo prisons, highlighting alarming health and treatment concerns.
The commission revealed that Ahmed Salem, aged 42 and a resident of Ramallah, has been held under administrative detention since his arrest on October 10, 2023. Initially sentenced to a six-month term, his detention has been renewed twice. Salem, a former detainee who previously spent 17 years in Israeli prisons, is currently confined in al-Naqab prison.
Majd Zahran, aged 32 and from Beit Duqqu in al-Quds, has been detained since October 13, 2023. His release is scheduled for April 6, 2025, unless his administrative detention is extended. The Commission confirmed that Zahran is currently being held in al-Naqab prison.
In the same context, the commission expressed grave concerns over Wasim Bani Hassan's deteriorating health. He suffers from hearing loss in his right ear caused by severe beatings from prison guards in May, leading to significant head and ear injuries. Additionally, he is battling scabies. Arrested on December 11, 2023, Bani Hassan is detained in Megiddo prison under a six-month administrative detention term, which has been renewed once.
The Commission also noted that Mohammed Arif Freihat, aged 43 and from Jenin, who was detained on August 12, 2024, is currently serving a six-month administrative detention and is being held in Megiddo prison.
The advocacy group reiterated its calls for international intervention, emphasizing the dire conditions and ongoing violations of detainees' rights in Israeli prisons.
The commission emphasized the dire conditions faced by these detainees, including health concerns and the use of administrative detention without formal charges or trials.
It also highlighted that several detainees scheduled for visitation were unexpectedly unavailable. Some had been transferred to other prisons, while others were unable to attend due to the prison administration's claims of cleaning and disinfection activities in certain sections.
Israeli prisons' medical neglect policy kills 2 Palestinian detainees
The General Authority for Civil Affairs, the Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs, and the Palestinian Prisoners Society announced, on November 15, the martyrdom of two Palestinian detainees who were held in Israeli occupation prisons: 61-year-old Samih Suleiman Muhammad Alawi, from Nablus, and 44-year-old Anwar Shaaban Muhammad Asleem, from Gaza.
At the time, the Commission of Detainees Affairs and the Prisoners Society emphasized in their statement that both Alawi and Asleem were victims of systematic crimes committed by the Israeli occupation through slow death and deliberate medical neglect, compounded by repeated abuse and continuous maltreatment of detainees.
The statement added that such crimes are part of a long-standing policy of the occupation against Palestinian detainees, ranging from torture to medical neglect, leaving them to suffer and succumb to illnesses.
It noted the increasing crimes against Palestinian detainees, particularly amid the ongoing genocidal war on Gaza. Many sick detainees have seen their conditions worsen, with the occupation refusing to provide treatment, further increasing the death toll among detainees.
The Commission and the Society further highlighted a worsening health crisis in al-Naqab prison, where a scabies outbreak has infected hundreds of detainees. Prison authorities have weaponized this disease as a form of abuse, exacerbating detainees’ suffering through persistent neglect.
They warned that the catastrophic conditions faced by detainees, especially the sick and injured, will inevitably lead to more deaths in Israeli prisons and camps. The rising number of detainees, coupled with the spread of diseases, has overwhelmed organizations tracking detainees' health.
The statement also confirmed that the number of Palestinian detainees in Israeli prisons has exceeded 10,200 as of early November 2024, including 96 women, over 270 children, and 3,443 administrative detainees, among them 31 women and 100 children. The fate of hundreds of detainees from Gaza remains unknown amid the policy of forced disappearance in camps controlled by the Israeli occupation forces.
