Palestinians released from Israeli prisons amid ceasefire push suffer mental and physical trauma

Authors: Nidal al-Mughrabi, Maytaal Angel and Ali Sawafta

CAIRO/JERUSALEM/RAMALLA (Reuters) – Palestinian bodybuilder Moazaz Obaiyat, once muscular and strong, was released in July after nine months in Israeli detention. Unable to walk independently. Then, during a predawn raid on his home in October, soldiers detained him again.

The 37-year-old father of five was diagnosed with severe post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) at a Bethlehem psychiatric hospital before he was rearrested, according to medical records seen by Reuters from the hospital. experience in the remote Ktz’iot prison.

The note said Obayat suffered “physical and psychological violence and torture” in prison and described symptoms including severe anxiety, being away from family and avoiding discussing traumatic events and current events.

Allegations of abuse and psychological damage against Palestinian detainees in Israeli prisons and camps came into focus again in December as international mediators stepped up efforts to secure a ceasefire that could see the release of thousands of prisoners detained during and before the Gaza war, In return, it provides aid to Israeli hostages held by the Palestinian group Hamas in Gaza.

Kadullah Fares, head of the Palestinian Commission for Detainees and Former Detainees, said that if detainees are released in a future deal, many “will require long-term medical care to recover from the physical and mental abuse they have suffered”. Ministry of Affairs, a government agency in the West Bank. Fares said he was aware of Obaiyat’s case.

For this report, Reuters interviewed four Palestinian men who have been detained by Israel since the outbreak of the war following a Hamas attack on October 7, 2023. To be released without formal charge or conviction for any crime.

All described lasting psychological trauma that they attributed to abuse, including beatings, sleep and food deprivation, and prolonged exposure to stressful positions while indoors. Reuters could not independently verify the conditions under which they are being held.

Their claims are consistent with multiple investigations by human rights groups that have reported severe abuses of Palestinians in Israeli custody.

An investigative report published by the United Nations Human Rights Office in August found that “torture, sexual assault and rape, as well as deplorable and inhumane conditions” had been widespread in prisons since the start of the war, and these reports were confirmed.

The White House called reports of torture, rape and abuse “deeply concerning.”

In response to questions from Reuters, the Israeli military said it was investigating several cases of alleged abuse of detainees in Gaza by military personnel but “categorically” denied accusations of systemic abuse within detention facilities.

The military declined to comment on individual cases. The Israel Prison Service (IPS), which is affiliated with far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gver, and the country’s internal security service said they could not comment on individual cases.

“Terrorists in Israeli prisons are provided with supervised living conditions and accommodation suitable for criminals,” Ben Gvir’s office said in response to questions from Reuters, adding that the facilities operated in compliance with the law. “‘Summer Camp’ is over,” Ben Gwire’s office said.

Tal Steiner, executive director of the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel (PCATI), an Israeli human rights group, said the symptoms described by these people are common and follow the victims throughout their lives, often tearing their families apart.

“Since October 7, there has been a surge in torture in Israeli prisons. This will have a devastating impact on Palestinian society,” Steiner said.

In July, a severely emaciated Obaiyat spoke from his hospital bed, describing the treatment of himself and other prisoners as “disgusting”, with scars on his legs and describing isolation, starvation, handcuffs and metal rods. of abuse, but no details were disclosed.

Photos taken before Obaiyat was imprisoned showed him with a large build.

On December 19, Israel’s High Court ordered the country to respond to a petition filed by human rights groups over the lack of adequate food for Palestinian prisoners.

Israel also reported that some of the 251 Israeli citizens taken captive to Gaza after Hamas attacks were mistreated. A report released by Israel’s Health Ministry on Saturday said the hostages were subjected to torture, including sexual and psychological abuse. Hamas has repeatedly denied abusing hostages.

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Obayat is being held in a small detention center in Etzion, south of Bethlehem, according to the Palestinian Prisoners Club, an advocacy group.

The group said he was held for six months in “administrative detention,” a form of imprisonment without charge or trial, and the official reasons for his arrest were unclear. The Israeli military, internal security and prison services did not respond to questions about his specific case.

PCATI said at least 56 Palestinians died in custody during the war, compared with one or two Palestinian deaths per year in the years before the conflict. The Israeli military said it has launched criminal investigations into all deaths of Palestinians in its custody.

PCATI estimates, based on court documents and data obtained through freedom of information requests, that the number of Palestinian prisoners in Israel and the West Bank at least doubled during the war to more than 10,000.

In response to inquiries from Reuters, the Israeli military said that approximately 6,000 Gazans were imprisoned during the course of the war.

Unlike Palestinians from the West Bank who are held under military law, Palestinians from Gaza are held in Israel under Israel’s Unlawful Combatants Law.

Professor Nev Gordon, an Israeli academic who specializes in human rights, said the law was used to confine people in solitary confinement, deny them their rights as prisoners of war or prisoners under military occupation, and imprison them for long periods of time without charge or trial. International Law, Queen Mary University.

The Palestinian Prisoners Club likened detention to enforced disappearance.

Israel’s prison service declined to comment on the number of prisoners or deaths.

SDE Tayman Camp

Fadi Ayman Mohammad Radi, 21, a former engineering student of Khan Younis in Gaza, was released on August 20 at the Kerem Shalom crossing into Gaza one of dozens of Palestinians.

Rady described having difficulty stretching his limbs after being handcuffed and chained for four months at Israel’s Stetman military detention camp, officially a temporary prisoner classification facility.

“Instead of interrogating us, they destroyed us,” Lardy said.

Stettman, located in the Negev desert, has been the site of serious abuse, including rape, according to allegations by camp guard whistleblowers.

Israel is currently investigating what the United Nations calls a “particularly horrific case of sexual abuse” at Stetman, in which five soldiers are accused of inserting a stick into a detainee’s anus, piercing his internal organs.

Lardy said he was repeatedly beaten arbitrarily, permanently restrained and blindfolded, hung in a stress position and forced to sit almost motionless on the floor.

He said he was deprived of sleep and listened to loud music for five days in a space dubbed a “disco room” by Israeli soldiers. He did not describe sexual violence.

Lardy said he found it difficult to sleep and even talking about his traumatic experience made him relive it.

“Every time I say these words, I imagine torture,” said Rady, who was arrested by Israeli soldiers in Gaza on March 4.

Reuters could not independently confirm his claims. The Israeli military said it could not comment, saying it could not find Radhi’s documents because Reuters could not provide his identity card number.

PCATI said the camp was still operating despite the government’s decision to phase out Sde Teiman.

OFER and KTZ’IOT

Widespread abuse has also been reported in more established facilities, such as Ktz’iot prison, also in the Negev, and the Ofer military camp south of Ramallah in the West Bank.

After compiling evidence and testimonies from 55 former Palestinian prisoners, Israeli rights group B’Tselem released a report earlier this year accusing Israel of deliberately turning the prison system into a “network of torture camps.”

After Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, hardline minister Ben Gvir used emergency legislation to order reduced treatment for “security prisoners”, a category made up almost entirely of Palestinians.

Human rights scholar Gordon likens what he calls the use of torture in Israeli prisons to terrorism.

“Terrorism is often an act that directly affects a limited number of people, but its psychosocial impact is enormous. The same goes for torture,” said Gordon, who co-edited a book on abuses in the Israeli prison system.

(Reporting by Nidal al-Mughrab in Cairo, Maytaal Angel in Jerusalem and Ali Sawafta in Ramallah; Editing by Frank Jack Daniel)