{"id":3375,"date":"2025-10-18T11:38:22","date_gmt":"2025-10-18T11:38:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2025\/10\/18\/what-we-know-about-the-torture-abuse-of-palestinian-prisoners-by-israel\/"},"modified":"2025-10-18T11:38:22","modified_gmt":"2025-10-18T11:38:22","slug":"what-we-know-about-the-torture-abuse-of-palestinian-prisoners-by-israel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2025\/10\/18\/what-we-know-about-the-torture-abuse-of-palestinian-prisoners-by-israel\/","title":{"rendered":"What we know about the torture, abuse of Palestinian prisoners by Israel"},"content":{"rendered":"<div aria-live=\"polite\" aria-atomic=\"true\">\n<p>Most of the bodies of the more than <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2025\/10\/15\/gaza-medics-find-signs-of-torture-on-palestinian-bodies-returned-by-israel\">100 dead Palestinians<\/a> Israel released remain unidentified.<\/p>\n<p>They were sent back to Gaza with numbers instead of their names, leaving family members of missing Palestinians to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/video\/newsfeed\/2025\/10\/17\/palestinian-bodies-returned-by-israel-show-sign-of-execution-torture\">pore desperately through pictures<\/a>\u00a0of the bodies, hoping to spot their loved ones.<\/p>\n<section>\n<h2>Recommended Stories <\/h2>\n<p><span>list of 3 items<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span>list 1 of 3<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2025\/10\/17\/hamas-hands-over-remains-of-one-more-israeli-captive-vows-to-return-rest\">Hamas hands over remains of one more Israeli captive, vows to return rest<\/a><\/li>\n<li><span>list 2 of 3<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2025\/10\/17\/trump-says-ukraine-war-could-end-quickly-as-he-meets-zelenskyy\">Trump says Ukraine war could end \u2018quickly\u2019 as he meets Zelenskyy<\/a><\/li>\n<li><span>list 3 of 3<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2025\/10\/17\/gaza-aid-deliveries-still-facing-israeli-roadblocks-a-week-into-ceasefire\">Gaza aid deliveries still face Israeli roadblocks a week into ceasefire<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span>end of list<\/span><\/section>\n<p>One thing is clear from the marks left on these bodies, and the blindfolds and handcuffs still on some of them: They had been tortured before their deaths, possibly executed.<\/p>\n<p>The torture was confirmed by Palestinian detainees released alive by Israel as part of the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2025\/10\/17\/hamas-hands-over-remains-of-one-more-israeli-captive-vows-to-return-rest\">Gaza ceasefire deal<\/a> that has also seen the release of Israeli captives from Gaza.<\/p>\n<p>Reports that Israel tortures Palestinian detainees in its jails have been common for years, and have increased since the start of Israel\u2019s war on Gaza, with some Israeli politicians even defending the practice.<\/p>\n<p>At least 75 Palestinian detainees have also died in Israeli jails since October 7, 2023, according to the United Nations.<\/p>\n<p>One particularly notable documented incident of abuse was the gang rape of a Palestinian prisoner by guards at the notorious <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2024\/8\/9\/everything-is-legitimate-israeli-leaders-defend-soldiers-accused-of-rape\">Sde Teiman detention facility<\/a> in Israel last year. Verified video shows Israeli prison guards using their shields to hide from the camera before proceeding to rape the victim, who was left unable to walk, Israeli media reported.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"abuse-visible-on-dead-bodies\">Abuse visible on dead bodies<\/h2>\n<p>The condition of the bodies Israel returned to Gaza is harrowing.<\/p>\n<p>The forensic teams who examined them said the bodies showed signs of physical abuse, medical sources told Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n<p>Some of the bodies had missing limbs or teeth, while some appeared to have been burned, the Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza said on Wednesday.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCrimes that cannot be hidden \u2026 This is how the bodies of Gaza\u2019s prisoners were returned \u2013 blindfolded, bound like animals, and bearing signs of severe torture and burning,\u201d Dr Munir al-Bursh, director-general of the Health Ministry, wrote on social media.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey did not die naturally \u2013 they were executed while restrained, a war crime demanding an urgent international investigation and accountability for the perpetrators.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Images of the bodies back up much of what al-Bursh said, with experts saying that they showed signs of abuse.<\/p>\n<p>Sameh Hamad, part of a commission that received the bodies at Gaza\u2019s Nasser Hospital, said that one of the bodies even had a rope around his neck.<\/p>\n<p>Speaking to Al Jazeera, Raed Mohammad Amer, of the Palestinian Prisoners\u2019 Society, said his organisation found that Israel had executed dozens of Palestinians. Israel has promised investigations in some cases, but many remain open.<\/p>\n<p>Naji Abbas, director of the prisoners and detainees department for Physicians for Human Rights Israel, said his organisation was \u201cnot surprised\u201d at the condition of the bodies released.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have recorded hundreds of instances of torture and deaths in the Israeli prison system, dozens of Palestinians who have been killed, beaten to death, or have died after being refused treatment for months,\u201d Abbas said.<\/p>\n<p>One autopsy the organisation examined showed signs of violence on the body eight months after the person died, he added.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThese are documented cases of detainees\u2019 bodies with clear signs of torture and of having been brutally restrained before death, and still it is not on every television and in every newspaper,\u201d Abbas said.<\/p>\n<p>Al Jazeera reached out to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), which coordinates the transfer of Palestinian and Israeli detainees, for comment.<\/p>\n<p>The ICRC did not comment on the condition of the bodies, but said the focus of its staff was \u201cthe dignified transfer of remains of the deceased\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>The Israeli military and prison service did not respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"detainees-say-they-were-tortured-abused\">Detainees say they were tortured, abused<\/h2>\n<p>Nearly 2,000 Palestinians from both Gaza and the occupied West Bank were released by Israel this week as part of the ceasefire deal.<\/p>\n<p>Many of them had been taken by Israel in large roundups, leaving behind families who weren\u2019t sure if their loved one had been killed or was disappeared by Israel.<\/p>\n<p>Without news of their missing loved ones since their disappearance, the family members were shocked by their appearances and the stories they told.<\/p>\n<p>Some people were so injured and weak, they were taken straight from the transport to a hospital for medical treatment.<\/p>\n<p>One released detainee, Mahmoud Abu Foul, said Israeli torture had led to him losing his eyesight. Abu Foul told Al Jazeera he lost his eyesight after one beating left him unconscious for hours.<\/p>\n<p>Many detainees emerged emaciated or with visible bruises.<\/p>\n<p>One freed detainee, Kamal Abu Shanab, said his weight had dropped from 127 to 68 kilogrammes.\u00a0His niece, Farah, cried as she saw him, saying he was unrecognisable.<\/p>\n<p>Another freed detainee, Salem Eid, said he can\u2019t lie on his back due to the beatings and has to sleep sitting up.<\/p>\n<p>There have been reports of abuse in Israeli prisons for years.<\/p>\n<p>Israeli rights group B\u2019Tselem said in a report last August the Israeli prison system was a \u201cnetwork of torture camps\u201d with \u201cfrequent acts of severe, arbitrary violence; sexual assault; humiliation and degradation; deliberate starvation; forced unhygienic conditions; sleep deprivation; prohibition on, and punitive measures for, religious worship; confiscation of all communal and personal belongings; and denial of adequate medical treatment\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Then there is the psychological torture. One man released this week said he was told by Israeli soldiers that his family was dead, only to find them alive, and another who had prepared a bracelet for his two-year-old daughter, only to discover that she, along with his wife and other children, had been killed by Israel.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"targeting-barghouti\">Targeting Barghouti<\/h2>\n<p>There are still about 9,000 Palestinian detainees still in Israeli jails \u2013 one of the most prominent is <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2025\/10\/16\/marwan-barghoutis-son-says-family-fears-for-his-life-in-israeli-prison-2\">Palestinian leader Marwan Barghouti<\/a>, who Israel refuses to release.<\/p>\n<p>Barghouti was found guilty by Israel in 2004 of being responsible for attacks against Israelis and is serving several life sentences.<\/p>\n<p>He refuses to accept the jurisdiction of the Israeli court system and endorses nonviolent resistance, as well as a two-state solution.<\/p>\n<p>Polls regularly find Barghouti to be the most popular Palestinian leader, and he has often been compared to the anti-apartheid leader and former South African President Nelson Mandela.<\/p>\n<p>Barghouti\u2019s son, Arab, told Al Jazeera this week that Israel has singled his father out for exceptionally harsh treatment, including a beating by guards in mid-September that left him unconscious.<\/p>\n<p>One released prisoner, Mohammad al-Ardah, said that Israeli forces had broken Barghouti\u2019s ribs in three places.<\/p>\n<p>Israel has denied the mistreatment of Barghouti and other Palestinian prisoners, but has not substantiated that defence with evidence.<\/p>\n<p>Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir appeared in an <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/video\/newsfeed\/2025\/8\/15\/israels-ben-gvir-filmed-threatening-marwan-barghouti-in-prison\">August video shouting at and threatening Barghouti<\/a>. He is\u00a0the man in charge of Israel\u2019s prison service.<\/p>\n<p>Arab Barghouti said Ben-Gvir showed his father an electric chair and told him it was his fate.<\/p>\n<p>Ben-Gvir has taken pride in the treatment of Palestinian prisoners under his watch, and defended soldiers alleged to have abused the detainees, saying that \u201csummer camps and patience for the terrorists are over\u201d.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Most of the bodies of the more than 100 dead Palestinians Israel released remain unidentified. They were sent back to Gaza with numbers instead of their names, leaving family members of missing Palestinians to pore desperately through pictures\u00a0of the bodies, hoping to spot their loved ones. Recommended Stories list of 3 items list 1 of &#8230; <a title=\"What we know about the torture, abuse of Palestinian prisoners by Israel\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2025\/10\/18\/what-we-know-about-the-torture-abuse-of-palestinian-prisoners-by-israel\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about What we know about the torture, abuse of Palestinian prisoners by Israel\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3376,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3375","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-travel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3375","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3375"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3375\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3376"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3375"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3375"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3375"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}