IOF invites Israelis to witness torture of Palestinian - Euro-Med Monitor

Yarmouk Stadium in Gaza
(File photo: Jordan News)
GAZA – On Monday, the Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor reported that the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) invited groups of Israeli civilians into detention centers and prisons holding Palestinian prisoners from the Gaza Strip, permitting the civilians to witness torture crimes against the prisoners, with many allowed to film them on their own phones.اضافة اعلان

Arrested during IOF ground incursions in Gaza, the prisoners were held for varying periods of time inside two detention centers: one located in the Zikim area on the northern border of the Gaza Strip, and another affiliated with the Naqab prison in southern Israel.

The released prisoners told Euro-Med Monitor that the IOF soldiers had purposefully presented them before Israeli civilians, falsely claiming that they were fighters affiliated with Palestinian resistance groups and that they had taken part on October 7.

According to testimony received by Euro-Med Monitor, groups of 10–20 Israeli civilians at a time were permitted to watch and laughingly film Palestinian prisoners in their underwear while IOF soldiers subjected them to verbal and physical abuse, including beating them with metal batons, electric sticks, and pouring hot water on their heads.

The Euro-Med Monitor added this as a new crime to the list of those committed by the IOF against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, specifically against prisoners who are subjected to cruel torture, enforced disappearances, arbitrary arrests, and denials of a fair trial, among other atrocities.

Palestinian Omar Abu Mudallala, 43, told the Euro-Med Monitor team, “I was arrested at the checkpoint set up near the Kuwait roundabout, which separates Gaza City from the central region, as part of the Israeli random arrest campaigns. I was subjected to all types of torture and abuse for approximately 52 days,” pointing out that Israeli soldiers “brought Israeli civilians to watch our nude torture.”

“The IOF brought a number of Israeli civilians into our detention centers while beating us,” Abu Mudallala added. “And told them, ‘These are Hamas terrorists who killed you and raped your women on October 7,’ while the Israeli civilians were filming us being beaten, abused, and tortured while making fun of us.”

“I was arrested at the checkpoint set up near the Kuwait roundabout, which separates Gaza City from the central region, as part of the Israeli random arrest campaigns. I was subjected to all types of torture and abuse for approximately 52 days,” pointing out that Israeli soldiers “brought Israeli civilians to watch our nude torture.”

"This happened five times while I was being held. The first time was in Barkasat Zikim, where we were blindfolded. However, one of the detainees who speaks Hebrew told us that the soldiers were interacting with Israeli civilians, claiming that we were armed fighters. The other four incidents took place in the Negev detention facility, where successive Israeli groups were taken inside tents to witness our abuse and record the torture methods we were subjected to without allowing us to speak or interact with them. Since we were not wearing blindfolds at the time, I saw them all four times with my own eyes."

Abu Mudallala said that "one of the prisoners who speaks Hebrew tried to explain to the Israeli civilians that we are civilians and we had nothing to do with any military activities, but that also did not help. However, he was subjected to severe psychological and physical torture. It was really shameful to bring Israeli citizens to record our torture for being allegedly involved in killing and rape incidents."

Forty-two-year-old D.H. also told Euro-Med Monitor, "Israeli civilians were brought to witness the abuse and torture that we were subjected to, which the army deliberately began when they were present. These Israelis sometimes brought their dogs with them to bark at us. They also took pictures of us and posted them on social media apps, particularly TikTok. The soldiers themselves did the same.”

The IOF’s torture and inhumane treatment of Palestinian prisoners is illegal under the Rome Statute and constitutes crimes against humanity. The IOF’s staging of these abuses as entertainment for Israeli civilians and subsequent photography of the victims amounts to a grave violation of the dignity of these individuals, as well as the commission of war crimes.

Euro-Med Monitor warned of the dire consequences of introducing Israeli civilians into arrest and detention centers, displaying Palestinian detainees to them during torture, and letting them use their personal phones to document these inhumane practices. This is a retaliatory approach that falls within the framework of promoting false Israeli propaganda, perpetuating a state of extremism, fueling hatred, and inflaming Israeli public opinion to incite more crimes and rights violations against Palestinians.

“The IOF brought a number of Israeli civilians into our detention centers while beating us,” Abu Mudallala added. “And told them, ‘These are Hamas terrorists who killed you and raped your women on October 7,’ while the Israeli civilians were filming us being beaten, abused, and tortured while making fun of us.”

Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor asserted that the vast majority of those arrested from within the Gaza Strip have been subjected to arbitrary detention without being charged or brought to justice, with no legal measures taken against them. They are also denied a fair trial and are subjected to forced disappearance, torture, and inhumane treatment. Euro-Med Monitor called on the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to inspect Israeli detention centers and prisons holding Palestinian prisoners, investigate the horrific violations and crimes they are subjected to, and work to bring these conditions to light immediately.

Furthermore, Euro-Med Monitor asserted that Israeli practices against Palestinian detainees are blatant violations of international conventions and standards, particularly the 1949 Fourth Geneva Convention, which forbids an occupying authority from transferring prisoners from the occupied territory to detention facilities on its territory, as well as torturing, attacking, or otherwise degrading the human dignity of those detained.


Read more Region and World
Jordan News