Sixty Palestinians detained by Israel return to Gaza, describe abuses

The freed men, some in wheelchairs, describe horrific abuses in Israeli detention.

Sixty Palestinians detained by Israel were returned to Gaza, arriving at a hospital in Khan Younis frail, injured and, in several cases, unable to walk.

The men were brought by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to Nasser Medical Complex for examination on Monday, where crowds of relatives and medical teams greeted them.

This is the largest prisoner release since the first phase of the “ceasefire” in Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, which took effect in October.

They are among nearly ۱,۳۰۰ people from Gaza held by Israel as “unlawful combatants”, according to Israeli rights group HaMoked. Israel said the men were released after interrogations determined they were “no longer security suspects”.

Al Jazeera’s Moath al-Kahlout, reporting from Gaza, said the detainees were labourers in Israeli-occupied Palestinian territory before October ۷, ۲۰۲۳.

He added that conditions in Gaza had deteriorated under the Israeli blockade to a point where the men would struggle to find food and shelter, which would impact their recovery.

Abdullah Kilani was among those released from Israeli jail. He said he was seized in December ۲۰۲۴ on Salah al-Din Street in central Gaza and held for more than ۱۸ months, during which he and another detainee were shot.

“The conditions were extremely harsh,” he told Anadolu. “I still can’t believe I’m free.”

A second man, who gave his name as Abu Ibrahim, told Anadolu prisoners were kept seated on bare concrete or iron slabs and he was injured when guards beat him with rifle butts.

“There was no distinction between young men and the elderly,” he said.

Mohammed Jabr al-Majdalawi, ۴۳, told Anadolu he was held for a year and nine months and only learned of his release when he met Red Cross staff for the transfer.

“I’m crying because we suffered so much,” he said. “Words cannot describe what we went through.”

“The prisoners who remain inside are still in danger,” he added, urging international bodies to act.

Torture as policy

The men were held across Israel’s most notorious prisons: Ofer, Negev and Sde Teiman, key facilities in an apparatus that rights groups say subjects Palestinians to arbitrary abuse amounting to a systematic policy of torture.

Palestinian and Israeli rights groups have documented frequent beatings, medical neglect, deprivation of food, prolonged restraint and deaths.

About ۹,۶۰۰ Palestinians are held by Israel, some of them children.

A United Nations commission of inquiry reported last month that Palestinian children arrested by Israel were subjected to torture, sexual abuse and other forms of mistreatment.

The ICRC says it has been unable to reach Palestinians in Israeli detention since October ۲۰۲۳ and has repeated its demand to be able to locate them and inspect their conditions of imprisonment.