Israeli Jailers Poured Acid on Me Says Released Prisoner Abu Tawila

Mohammed Abu Tawila is one of many Palestinians who went through extreme conditions in Israeli jails. Recently released, Abu Tawila says Israeli jailers poured acid and other chemicals on his body during an interrogation.

Abu Tawila was kidnapped from Gaza and subjected to severe beatings, including punching him in the eye.

He was tortured with chemical substances, including chlorine, dishwashing liquid, laundry detergent, soap, and air fresheners.

“They were ignited on my body for three days.”

“My eye was included [in the torture]. One of them would keep punching me in the eye, while wearing gloves with something tough, that resembled bone,” he recounts.

Abu Tawila would later collapse on the rubble due to the severe beating.

Once the Israeli soldiers saw how his body had reacted to the acid attack and other chemicals, they transferred him to the occupied West Bank.

Abu Tawila remained in the hospital for a few weeks before his transfer to the notorious Ofer military prison.

“Of course, there was also torture in the occupied territories, from beatings, to insults and humiliation, not to mention hunger and sitting in the cold.”

“They [Israeli guards] would release dogs on us, storm in and beat us inside, tie our hands, and take us outside to the prison yards.”

“They would also kick us, causing our faces to swell and bleed,” Abu Tawila recounts.

In a recent post on X, Israel’s far-right politician Itamar Ben Gvir shared a video showing the abuse and humiliation of Palestinians in the Keziot prison, located in the Negev desert.

In the clip, a detainee can be seen kneeling and painting the prison walls, while an Israeli guard stands over him, pointing a weapon in his direction.

Several other prisoners are shown kneeling and facing the opposite wall.

Testimonies also describe regular beatings by guards, extreme overcrowding, humiliation and inadequate hygiene.

In early August 2024, the Israeli rights group B’Tselem accused Israeli authorities of systematically abusing Palestinians in “torture camps,” subjecting them to severe violence and sexual assault.

Human rights organizations say Israel continues to violate all rights and freedoms granted to prisoners by the Fourth Geneva Convention and international laws.

Palestinians subjected to ‘severe torture’ under Israeli detention: Euro-Med

Euro-Med says the terrible health conditions in which Palestinians were released from Israeli prisons indicate a pattern of torture and abuse until the very last moments.

Dozens of Palestinians killed in Israeli detention

In a statement released on Tuesday, the Palestinian Prisoners Society (PPS) said at least 59 Palestinians held by Israel have lost their lives since October 2023.

The PPS said 38 people of the group are from the Gaza Strip.

The PPS accused the Israeli authorities of hiding the death of scores of Palestinian prisoners in detention.

Separately, the Commission of Detainees’ Affairs confirmed that Musab Hani Haniyeh was the latest victim who died in Israeli custody according to PressTV.

Haniyeh, 35, from the southern city of Khan Yunis, was abducted on March 3, 2024. His family said Haniyeh was in good health before his detention.

More than 14,500 Palestinians have been kidnapped by Israeli forces across the occupied West Bank since October 2023. Dozens of them have died in detention in recent months.

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Back on Track: Israel Poised to Free 620 Palestinians Prisoners

Israel is set to release 620 Palestinian detainees after days of stalling by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The expected release as announced by Hamas will now proceed as originally scheduled.

Hamas had stated that Israel violated the ceasefire agreement, in place since 19 January 19, by freezing the release of Palestinian detainees. It insisted Israel failed to uphold its commitments, after Hamas released Israeli prisoners as agreed. Hamas official Mahmoud Mardawi warned that no releases would mean that the deal to release more of the hostages would be off-the-table.

The Israeli government is angry because of the way the Israeli hostages are being released through “humiliating ceremonies” especially after an Israeli prisoner expressed gratitude to Hamas fighters upon release, kissing their foreheads.

However, Israel soon caved in under pressure from the countries sponsoring the negotiations mainly, the USA, Egypt and Qatar.

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‘You Have No Business Here’ Syrians Tell Netanyahu

Hundreds of Syrians demonstrated in the southern Daraa province on Tuesday against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s call for the demilitarization of southern Syria.

Protesters gathered in the March 18 Square in Daraa city, calling Netanyahu’s comments a “blatant interference” in Syria’s internal affairs, according to an Anadolu correspondent.

https://twitter.com/MiddleEastEye/status/1894008504333271275

Israeli drones were seen flying over the area during the protest.

On Sunday, Netanyahu called for the complete demilitarization of southern Syria in the provinces of Quneitra, Daraa and Suweyda from the forces of the new Syrian army.

“We will not tolerate any threat to the Druze community in southern Syria,” he claimed, saying that the Israeli army will stay in Syria’s buffer zone and the Syrian Hermon Mount “Jabal al-Sheikh” for “an unlimited period of time.”

https://twitter.com/3Amilsa/status/1894172313295204509

After the fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime in December, Israel expanded its occupation of the Syrian Golan Heights by seizing the demilitarized buffer zone, a move that violated the 1974 disengagement agreement with Syria.

Israel’s recent military advances in the Golan Heights, which it has occupied since 1967, have drawn condemnation from the United Nations and several Arab nations.

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Aaron Bushnell: Hero Remembered

Aaron Bushnell self-immolated on this day one year ago to call attention to the genocide in Palestine. Bushnell dressed in his US Air Force military fatigues to self-immolate in front of the Israeli Embassy.

His sacrifice has been honored from Yemen to Palestine and beyond.

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