Watan-The Hebrew Channel 13 has revealed acts of torture carried out by the Israeli authorities against Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons.
The Channel stated that elite fighters from the Islamic Resistance Movement “Hamas”, who are detained in Israeli prisons, endure severe and difficult procedures and are crammed into very small cells amidst hunger, cold, and tight conditions.
This was reported in a television report aired by the channel about Palestinian prisoners, whom the channel described as members of the “elite” in the Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, who were arrested during attacks on October 7th.
The channel stated that Hamas elite prisoners endure very harsh conditions, living in extremely cold temperatures, forced to bow their heads while sitting on the ground. The prison cells are very small, the beds are unmade, and there are no blankets.
القناة “13” العبرية: #إسرائيل تنكل بأسرى حماس، وعناصر “النخبة يتكدسون تحت برد شديد ويجبرون على سماع أغان #إسرائيلية يوميا” https://t.co/PWbO1af9HE pic.twitter.com/foET4VKY6n
— Anadolu العربية (@aa_arabic) February 18, 2024
The report mentioned that on a daily basis, guards play Hebrew songs loudly, including the song “The People of Israel Live,” inside the small cells where Hamas elite prisoners are crowded.
The Israeli channel also noted the presence of police dogs accompanying the guards every time they inspect these prisoners.
According to the television report, “more than 5 prisoners are confined in one very small cell, and the food provided to them is very limited.”
Severe Torture
The Euro-Mediterranean Observatory for Human Rights previously announced that it had received new testimonies about severe torture and inhumane treatment, including stripping, sexual harassment or threats thereof, suffered by Palestinian detainees from Gaza, including women and children, demanding urgent international action to stop these violations.
The Observatory stated that its teams received testimonies from a group of recently released detainees in the past few days, who had spent various periods of detention, during which they spoke about their experiences of harsh practices, including being beaten in a “brutal and retaliatory” manner, dogs being unleashed towards them, being kept in ghostly conditions for long hours, being fully stripped of their clothes, and being deprived of food and access to toilets.
Extreme Measures by Itamar Ben Gvir Targeting Prisoners
Israeli Minister of Public Security Itamar Ben Gvir had previously ordered his authorities in December to detain prisoners from the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) in an underground prison that had not been used for years.
Ben Gvir, the leader of the extremist right-wing Jewish Power party, stated in a post on Telegram that after years of disuse, the prison commissioner (Katy Perry) had been instructed to reopen the underground wing for detainees of the Qassam Brigades.
He added: “These prisoners do not deserve even a point or a glimpse of sunlight while they are in our custody (referring to Israeli prisoners and detainees held by Palestinian factions in Gaza) sitting in the tunnels of hell.”