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Palestinian groups are demanding inspections of Israeli prisons after some detainees were released due to chronic health problems
This image shows the Ofer military prison, located between Ramallah and Beitunia in the occupied West Bank city, amid preparations for the release of Palestinian prisoners in exchange for Israeli hostages held by Hamas in Gaza, on November 25, 2023. (Photo by KENZO TREBOUILLARD/AFP via Getty Images)
The Palestinian Legislative Council in Gaza called for international inspection of Israeli detention centers after several prisoners looking frail and thin were released this week after months of detention.
Among those released was the council’s former chairman, Aziz Dweik, who had been detained for nine months on charges of Hamas affiliation. He looked noticeably thinner and paler than before he was detained.
The council said it “looks with indignation at the crimes committed by the enemy against prisoners, and the most striking example of this is the photo of Dr. Aziz Dweik when he left the occupied prisons.”
The council alleged that prisoners faced starvation, isolation, and torture.
Dwek herself said on Friday that prisoners are “starved 24 hours a day.” “Prisoners are in poor health, suffer from skin diseases, and the food is insufficient even for children, let alone meeting the needs of adults.”
He said there was practically no sugar, salt or fruit in the prisons.
CNN has sought response from the Israel Defense Forces and prison authorities to the allegations made by the council.
Most of the approximately 30 prisoners released from the Negev and Ofer prisons this week were administrative detainees who had not been charged with any crime.
One of them was Saed Abu Shanab from Tulkarm, who spent 21 years in Israeli prisons, according to the Palestinian Prisoners Society.
The Prisoners’ Society said the conditions of the prisoners “reflected some of the harshest and most degrading conditions of custody, including acts of torture, ill-treatment and starvation, as well as medical crimes”.
In May, CNN published an investigation based on testimony from whistleblowers at the Negev facility, reporting that “doctors sometimes amputate prisoners’ limbs because of injuries from being constantly handcuffed; (and) medical procedures are sometimes performed by unqualified doctors.”
In response to that report, the IDF responded that it “ensures appropriate conduct toward detainees in custody.” Any allegations of misconduct by IDF soldiers are investigated and dealt with accordingly.
The Israeli military has acknowledged partially converting three separate military facilities into detention camps for Palestinian detainees from Gaza since the Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7.
The Prisoners’ Society said in April that most of the released detainees suffered from health problems “which required some of them to be transferred to hospital soon after their release.”