36 prisoners tortured to death in Israeli jails since Oct. 7: Gaza Media Office

By Mohamed Majid

GAZA CITY, Palestine (AA) - At least 36 prisoners from the Gaza Strip who were detained by the Israeli military since Oct. 7, have died because of torture and harsh conditions in Israeli prisons, the Gaza Media Office said Thursday.

The Office said another “54 detainees from various Palestinian regions have died in Israeli prisons due to torture and inhumane detention conditions, amid systematic assaults on prisoners since the beginning of the genocidal war.”

It accused Israel of “committing ongoing crimes against humanity, including enforced disappearances.”

The statement described Israeli prisons as “mass graves for thousands of Palestinian prisoners, ignored by international institutions.”

Based on testimonies from recently released detainees, the statement detailed numerous forms of torture and inhumane treatment, including forced stripping, prolonged binding and blindfolding, electrocution, systematic starvation and cutting the body with sharp tools.

Other reported abuses include deprivations of sleep, bathing and medical care, dog attacks and exposure to extreme cold.

Since the beginning of the Israeli ground operations in Gaza on Oct. 27, Israel has detained thousands of Palestinians, including women, children and members of health and civil defense teams.

While a small number of the detainees have been released, the fate of the majority remains unknown, with no official statistics available.

Flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire, Israel has faced international condemnations amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza since an Oct. 7 attack by the Palestinian resistance group, Hamas, which killed less than 1,200 people.

More than 37,400 Palestinians have since been killed in Gaza, most of them women and children, and more than 85,600 others injured, according to local health authorities.

More than eight months into the Israeli war, vast tracts of Gaza lie in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, whose latest ruling ordered Tel Aviv to immediately halt its military operation in the southern city of Rafah, where more than 1 million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.

*Writing by Mohammad Sio