(Rafah) Palestinians released after being arrested by the Israeli army in the Gaza Strip told AFP on Sunday that they had been tortured in detention, something the army denies.
These men are among hundreds of Palestinians arrested by the Israeli army during its ground operations launched in the Gaza Strip from October 27 and questioned for alleged links with Hamas in power in the territory.
Around 20 of them were admitted to Najjar Hospital in Rafah, in the south of the Gaza Strip, on Sunday after being released.
“They have bruises and marks of blows on their bodies,” hospital director Marwan al-Hams told AFP.
One of the released detainees, Nayef Ali, 22, showed signs of restraint on his wrists and cuts on his body, according to AFP images.
PHOTO SAID KHATIB, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
A man shows his wrist injuries at Najjar Hospital in Rafah on December 24.
The young man had, he explains, been arrested in the Zeitoun neighborhood in the east of Gaza City.
“They separated the men from the women and kept us in a house where they [les soldats israéliens, NDLR] had seized,” he told AFP.
They handcuffed our hands behind our backs for two days. We weren’t given food or water or allowed to use the toilet, just strokes and strokes.
Nayef Ali, a freed Palestinian
According to him, the detainees were then gathered in an area on the border with Israel where it “was freezing cold”. “They threw cold water on us before transporting us to prison [en Israël, NDLR] where it was torture and beatings again.”
Another released detainee Khamis al-Bardini, 55, also claims to have suffered ill-treatment at the hands of Israeli soldiers.
“It was cold water on our heads all night and beatings during the day. They then took us to a prison whose name we do not know or where it is located,” he testifies.
Asked about these accusations, the Israeli army affirmed that “those detained are treated in accordance with international law”.
“While in detention, the suspects are provided with sufficient nutrition and hydration and are treated according to established protocol,” the army added in a statement.
The Israeli army has been heavily criticized in recent weeks after the release of images of dozens of Palestinians arrested in the Gaza Strip, shown in their underwear, blindfolded and with their hands shackled, under the guard of Israeli soldiers.
On December 19, the Israeli army announced the opening of an investigation into “terrorist deaths in military detention centers”, without specifying the number of detainees concerned or the circumstances of their deaths.