Gaza Strip Archives - Page 3 of 9

Why is Israel Torturing Its Prisoners?

CrossFireArabia
February 28, 2025

The physical and mental health conditions of the Palestinian detainees and prisoners released during the seventh round of the ceasefire exchange agreement between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip are shocking.

Israel’s release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and detainees, who arrived in the Gaza Strip recently in exceptionally poor health, illustrates its ongoing use of torture to terrorise and persecute prisoners and detainees and break their will until the very end of their detention. The effects of torture were clearly evident, with the emaciated bodies of the released individuals reflecting the severity of systematic crimes and inhumane treatment that exceed all legal and moral bounds.

The repeated release of such visibly unhealthy individuals from Israeli prisons reveals that the heinous torture and willful medical neglect they endure have escalated to appalling levels. Euro-Med Monitor notes that the atrocities occurring in these prisons are among the worst violations recorded by human rights organisations worldwide.

https://twitter.com/EuroMedHR/status/1895193029843320974

In a blatant violation of the mandatory rules of international law—which forbid torture in all its forms and under all circumstances, without exception, and consider its commission an international crime that does not expire by statute of limitations—hundreds of released prisoners and detainees arrived in the Gaza Strip after midnight in exceptionally poor health. It became evident after their transfer to the Gaza European Hospital in the southern section of the Strip that dozens of them required urgent medical care because their bodies showed signs of torture and inhumane treatment, including deprivation of necessary medical care and treatment.

Along with severe weakness and exhaustion, the Euro-Med Monitor field team documented severe injuries among detainees and prisoners, including limb amputations and severe swelling brought on by torture. Some appeared incapable of walking without the assistance of friends, and others required immediate medical attention because their health was rapidly deteriorating.

Even though the majority of detainees were not charged with any specific crimes, many of them claimed that they were beaten, mistreated, and threatened right up until the very last minute before their release. Since being kidnapped from the Gaza Strip at various points following 7 October 2023, they were arrested or detained, tortured, and subjected to degrading treatment as part of a systematic policy designed to cause them severe physical and psychological harm. This policy is a part of Israel’s crime of genocide, which aims to destroy the Palestinian people in the Strip, either entirely or partially, by weakening the foundations of their survival and leading them to submission or extinction.

Furthermore, the Euro-Med Monitor team documented Israel’s ongoing use of psychological torture and humiliation against recently released prisoners through the enforcement of laws that directly incite violence and genocide. This official systematic incitement is a fundamental tool of Israel’s policies against Palestinians, particularly those in the Gaza Strip. One example of these measures is the prison authorities’ requirement that newly released inmates and detainees wear vests with official Israeli Prison Service slogans and threatening phrases in Hebrew, including religious quotations that express the principle of revenge and pursuit until liquidation. Additionally, they are forced to wear plastic wristbands with derogatory words printed on them to psychologically degrade them and highlight the fact that they are still being singled out despite being “free”.

The phrase “I will pursue my enemies and overtake them; I will not return until I have destroyed them” is printed on the vests of Palestinian detainees and prisoners who have been released, and is taken from a biblical passage (Psalm 18:37) that expressly calls for killing and genocide. This is a form of direct and public incitement to genocide, which is forbidden by Article 3 of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.

By depriving the Palestinians of their humanity and treating them as a legitimate target for killing and targeting, Israel’s actions go beyond psychological warfare and constitute a dangerous extension of institutional hate speech and a consolidation of the intention to commit genocide.

The violations which Palestinian prisoners and detainees are subjected to by Israel, whether while these individuals are being held or being released, gravely violate international law and represent a blatant disregard for its mandatory regulations that forbid torture and cruel or inhuman treatment without exception. The Third and Fourth Geneva Conventions provide complete protection for prisoners and detainees, and forbid torture, humiliation, or retaliation, making these crimes punishable by international law.

The death of detainee Raafat Adnan Abdul Aziz Abu Fanouneh (34), who was tortured and abused following his arrest in the Gaza Strip in October 2023, was announced yesterday (Wednesday) in Israel’s Shamir Medical Centre (formerly Assaf Harofeh). A minimum of 60 prisoners and detainees—as these are the only victims whose identities are known—have perished in Israeli occupation prisons since the beginning of the genocide, including at least 39 individuals from the Gaza Strip. This is the highest number ever.

Israel continues to commit the crime of enforced disappearance against hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and detainees, failing to disclose their whereabouts or medical conditions to their loved ones, which raises serious concerns about the safety and lives of the people being held. Israel also continues to conceal any information about them from the press, despite credible evidence that dozens of additional prisoners and detainees have been killed inside Israeli prisons and detention facilities.

In addition to being crimes against humanity and full-fledged war crimes, the crimes committed by the Israeli occupation army and other Israeli security forces against Palestinian prisoners and detainees from the Gaza Strip also amount to acts of genocide against the Palestinian people in the Strip, because they are carried out in a systematic and brutal manner. These acts include the killing of Palestinians and the infliction of severe physical and psychological harm, including torture, other forms of ill-treatment, and sexual violence, including rape, and are carried out with the goal of eradicating the Palestinian people as a whole.

All countries and pertinent international organisations must take swift and decisive action to end Israel’s widespread and systematic crimes of killing, torture, and other serious violations against Palestinian prisoners and detainees. Detainees who have been arbitrarily arrested must be released without conditions, right away. Additionally, local and international organisations must be given immediate permission to visit detainees, who must be allowed the opportunity to choose their own lawyer.

Israel’s notorious arbitrary detention practices, such as administrative detention and detention under the “Unlawful Combatants Law”, must be stopped. These practices are a blatant violation of international law and are employed as a systematic, repressive tool to weaken the Palestinian will, tear apart the social fabric that holds them together, and deny Palestinians their fundamental legal rights.

To ensure justice for Palestinian victims and that the Israeli occupation is held responsible for its violations, human rights and media organisations must step up their efforts to pressure Israel’s government to stop its ongoing crimes. In addition, these groups must work to highlight the suffering of Palestinian prisoners and detainees and to share these individuals’ testimonies about the horrific crimes they face.

The International Criminal Court must investigate the crimes, submit specialised reports regarding the crimes committed against Palestinian prisoners and detainees in Israeli prisons and detention facilities, particularly after 7 October 2023, and issue arrest warrants for all perpetrators. All concerned nations must make sure the perpetrators of these crimes are prosecuted and brought before the Court to stand trial.

Israel must immediately cease its crime of enforced disappearance against Palestinian prisoners and detainees from the Gaza Strip; reveal all secret detention camps; reveal the names, whereabouts, and fates of all Palestinians it is holding from the Strip; and take full responsibility for the safety and well-being of these individuals. These demands must come from the international community.

Euro-Med Monitor

News

Expert: Israel Seeks to Displace Palestinians by Making Rebuilding Costs Too High

CrossFireArabia
February 25, 2025

International law expert Dr. Anis Al-Qassem warned against the demolition and displacement acts carried out by the Israeli occupation army in the West Bank, adding the demolition and bulldozing operations aim at forcing the Palestinian people off their land.

Al-Qassem told Jordan24 that the occupation army is carrying out what he called “systematic impoverishment operations” against the Palestinian people, such they would be unable to rebuild what has been destroyed due to the huge sums of money that would be needed by the Palestinian National Authority and the residents together. He pointed out that this is what the Israeli occupation government seeks and is doing.

Al-Qassem added that the extent of the destruction of camps, homes and infrastructure in the West Bank is comparable to what the Israelis did in the Gaza Strip, and no party will be able to finance the exorbitant costs which will automatically push the people to voluntarily leave in search of a livelihood in light of the difficult circumstances they live in within the West Bank.

“Unfortunately, we cannot ask the Arab countries to intervene, given the fact that they completely ended their connection with the Palestinian cause, and this was clear in the Gaza war, despite the cohesion and solidarity of western countries with Israel, which today enjoys their unlimited support, economically, militarily and technologically,” he concluded.

News

Jordan FM: Arab States Want a Plan to Rebuild Gaza Without Replacement

CrossFireArabia
February 15, 2025

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi on Friday said that Arab countries are putting together a plan to rebuild the war-torn Gaza Strip without displacing its population.

During his participation at the Munich Security Conference, Safadi said, “We are working on an Arab proposal that will show that we can rebuild Gaza without displacing its people, that we can have a plan that will guarantee security and governance,” Safadi said, adding that Israel also had to think about how it wanted to see the region in 10 or 20 years time.

“Israelis also have to think long-term. For it to live in peace and security, its neighbours need to live in peace and security,” he said.

Jordan’s top diplomat said that ending the Israeli occupation and establishing an independent Palestinian state is the guarantee to achieving peace and security in the region.

Safadi also participated in the conference on Syria hosted by France, where he met with his French counterpart Jean-Noel Barrot.

During the meeting, Safadi said that there is an Arab-supported Egyptian plan that aims to rebuild the Gaza Strip without displacing its Palestinian residents, according to a Foreign Ministry statement.

The two top diplomats reiterated rejection the displacement of Palestinians, with Safadi vocing appreciation for France’s support to the two-state solution as the path to achieving just and lasting peace, the statement said.

They also stressed the importance of supporting the Syrian people in rebuilding their country on the basis that guarantees the security of Syria and its territorial unity and the voluntary return of refugees, according to the statement according to The Jordan Times.

Analyses

Israel’s War on West Bank Cities, Displaces 1000s of Palestinians

CrossFireArabia
February 11, 2025

Tens of thousands of Palestinians have been forcibly displaced by Israeli occupation forces during the latest military campaign against Palestinians in the northern West Bank. The goal of the offensive, which is occurring in Palestinian cities, villages, and refugee camps, is to drive the Palestinians from their homes and establish new realities that defy international law.

A Euro-Med Monitor field team observed these forced relocation efforts on Saturday 8 February, when the Israeli occupation army targeted hundreds of Palestinians from the Far’a camp in Tubas, in the northern West Bank. This displacement is part of a larger offensive that started on 2 February and has involved Israeli forces conducting frequent raids on the town of Tamoun and the Far’a camp, destroying infrastructure and homes while enforcing a rigorous curfew on the populace.

Dozens of families have been displaced in recent days, but Saturday’s displacement operations took a more dangerous turn, as hundreds of families were compelled to evacuate due to the threat of home bombings, starvation, and siege. In the face of humiliating and degrading measures, taking place in cold weather and without the provision of adequate shelter, residents were compelled to evacuate their homes via routes imposed by the Israeli military.

In its latest ethnic cleansing efforts, Israel forcibly uproots thousands of Palestinians in the West Bank
by Euro-Med Human Rights Monitorhttps://t.co/rdtDCDKbQp

Tens of thousands of Palestinians have been forcibly displaced by Israeli occupation forces during the latest…
— Countercurrents.org (@Countercurrents) February 11, 2025

The Israeli occupation announced the start of a massive military operation known as “Iron Wall” on 21 January, which started in Jenin, its refugee camp, and its towns. On 27 January, the Israeli military operation expanded to Tulkarm and the governorate’s Tulkarm and Nour Shams refugee camps. This is just one example of the systematic practices, most notably mass forced displacement, by which Israeli forces are intensifying their operations in the West Bank.

The Israeli occupation army has conducted one of the biggest forced displacement operations in the West Bank in decades, displacing over 11,000 residents of the Tulkarm camps and the majority of the Jenin camp’s 13,000 residents. These actions are akin to the strategy used by the Israeli military in the Gaza Strip, where dozens of illegitimate eviction orders resulted in the forced relocation of nearly two million Palestinians.

Israel’s practice of forcibly displacing and expelling Palestinian residents in the West Bank has been in place for years, and has worsened in the last two years. Previously, however, the perpetrators were mostly individuals or members of small groups, as evidenced by their destruction of homes, unlawful confiscation of land and properties, dismantling of a population’s infrastructure, and ejection of indigenous families or communities in favour of establishing settlement outposts, as was the case in multiple locations in Hebron and the Jordan Valley.

In addition to forced displacement, the Israeli military’s current genocidal strategy in the West Bank has involved widespread destruction. This destruction has included the bombing and burning of residential buildings and infrastructure, the cutting off of water, electricity, and communications supplies, and a killing policy that has resulted in the deaths of 30 Palestinians—including four children—and the injury of almost 300 others over the course of 19 days.

The Israeli occupation has employed a variety of additional tactics to create harsh living conditions in the West Bank. Israeli politicians have made public remarks encouraging the spread of violence there, for example. In particular, an Israeli security official speaking on Channel 14 about the cabinet’s decision to start the Jenin campaign stated, “We are starting a massive campaign in the northern West Bank, which could go on for months. We will act there just as we did in Gaza. We will leave them in ruins.”

Israel is encouraged by its decades-long impunity and the international community’s general attitude of helplessness that accompanied the Israeli crime of in the Gaza Strip for over 15 months. With its recent escalation in aggression, Israel threatens to repeat its Gaza genocide in the West Bank.

In order to protect Palestinian civilians and put an end to Israel’s operation in the West Bank, the international community must act immediately. Israel has repeatedly declared its intention to annex the West Bank and establish sovereignty over it, which has led to the ongoing military operation.

The international community must uphold the Palestinian people’s rights to freedom and dignity; support their right to self-determination, in line with international law; stop Israeli settler colonialism and illegal occupation of Palestinian territory; dismantle its apartheid against, and systematic isolation of, the Palestinians; lift the illegal blockade of the Gaza Strip; hold Israeli perpetrators and their Western allies accountable and prosecute them; and ensure surviving Palestinian victims receive compensation and redress.

EuroMed Human Rights Monitor

News

Thank You South Korea

CrossFireArabia
February 7, 2025

A demonstration was held in South Korea in protest of Trump’s remarks about taking over the Gaza Strip after expelling Palestinians to other countries.