A report by the Israeli Channel 12 revealed that Israeli jailers beat a Palestinian prisoner to death in the Negev Desert Prison, at a time when warnings escalated that the Israeli prison authorities were deliberately torturing Palestinian prisoners during the occupation’s aggression against the Gaza Strip since last October 7.
Quoting Israeli sources, and within what was permitted for publication, a report by the Israeli Channel 12 stated that the Investigation Unit 433 for investigating the guards opened an investigation against 14 defendants, some of whom were suspected of beating the prisoner and causing his death, and some of whom were suspected of being involved in the violent incident. Then they were released and granted leave. until a further notice.
The report explained that according to initial suspicions, about a month ago today, the guards beat the security prisoner in one of the prison cells with sticks, which led to his serious injuries, adding that treatment was provided to the prisoner, but after a series of examinations, all that remained was to declare his death.
An eyewitness from the Palestinian prisoners confirmed that a number of jailers asked the captured martyr to bow down and lower his head, which he refused, which led to the jailers beating him, causing his martyrdom.
The Channel 12 report indicated that an Israeli court had sentenced the prisoner – whose name was not mentioned – to life imprisonment, of which he spent 18 years in prison, explaining that the aforementioned prisoner (38 years old) is an activist in the Fatah movement, a resident of the West Bank, and was in Cell 8 with other prisoners.
Thaer Samih Abu Assab
Although the Israeli report did not reveal the name of the martyred prisoner, the Prisoners and Ex-Detainees Affairs Authority announced on November 19 the assassination of prisoner Thaer Samih Abu Assab (38 years old) from the Qalqilya Governorate in the northern West Bank in the Negev Desert Prison.
She indicated that he had been detained since May 27, 2005, and was sentenced to 25 years in prison, confirming at the time that he was the sixth prisoner to be assassinated by the occupation in its prisons after last October 7.
In turn, the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club explained that the occupation authorities continue to detain the bodies of the six martyrs among the bodies of 17 Palestinian prisoners who were martyred in Israeli detention centers.
According to the latest official statistics issued by the club, the Israeli authorities have arrested more than 4,630 Palestinians since the start of the aggression on the Gaza Strip.
Statements and warnings
Similar to the martyrdom of prisoner Thaer Samih Abu Assab under torture in occupation detention centers, an Israeli judge decided to open an investigation into the circumstances of the death of a Palestinian prisoner on November 13, according to what two human rights organizations reported.
On December 13 of this year, a joint statement issued by the Commission for Ex-Prisoners’ Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club stated that the Israeli judge in the Hadera Court (northern Israel) decided to open an immediate investigation into the case of the martyrdom of prisoner Abd al-Rahman Ahmad Mar’i (33 years old) from the town of Qarawat Bani. Hassan West Salfit.
The two institutions explained that the judge’s decision came after the court found that the martyr prisoner, Marhi, “was subjected to severe beatings and torture, as there were injuries, signs, and traces of the crime on his body.”
On November 29, the Prisoners’ Committee addressed the Qatari and Egyptian mediators, the International Committee of the Red Cross, the United Nations, and the countries of the world with “the need to put pressure on the occupation to stop its retaliatory attack and the systematic crimes it is waging against us inside the prisons.”
On the 9th of the same month, a report by Amnesty International spoke of “horrific” cases of torture and humiliating Israeli treatment of Palestinian prisoners since Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, amid an escalation in the pace of arbitrary arrests and a remarkable expansion in Tel Aviv’s use of administrative detention.
The organization confirmed that the testimonies of released detainees and human rights lawyers, in addition to video clips and photos, demonstrate some forms of torture and other forms of ill-treatment to which prisoners were subjected at the hands of Israeli forces during the past four weeks.
On December 4, the head of the Palestinian Authority for Prisoners and Ex-Prisoners’ Affairs, Qaddoura Fares, said that Israel was waging a “blind revenge” operation against the Palestinian prisoners, in a clear expression of disappointment, failure, and a sense of existential danger after the events of last October 7.
Qaddoura added in an interview with Tel Aviv Tribune Net that Palestinian prisoners are being beaten, tortured, starved, and prevented from visits by families, lawyers, and international organizations, in conditions they have never witnessed before.
The Palestinian official expressed his fear for the fate of the Gaza Strip prisoners due to the torture of some of them to death, calling on the International Committee of the Red Cross to explicitly announce that it is prohibited from visiting prisons, or to pack its bags and leave if it is unable to do its part.
Execution of Palestinians in front of their families
In a related context, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights called on Tel Aviv to open an immediate investigation into reports that the Israeli occupation army executed 11 unarmed Palestinians in front of their families in the Gaza Strip.
Yesterday, Wednesday, the High Commissioner published a report containing findings that Israeli soldiers deliberately killed 11 unarmed Palestinians in front of their families in the Al-Rimal neighborhood in Gaza City.
The report indicated that this information was obtained following previous allegations that Israeli forces deliberately targeted and killed civilians.
The Commission stressed that the Israeli authorities must immediately begin an independent, comprehensive and effective investigation into these allegations.
Since last October 7, the Israeli occupation army has launched a devastating aggression against the Gaza Strip, which as of yesterday evening, Wednesday, resulted in 26,000 martyrs and missing persons – most of them children and women – in addition to massive destruction of infrastructure and an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe, according to official Palestinian sources.