Palestinians released from Israeli prison describe 'physical, psychological' torture

By Gulsen Topcu, Mahmut Geldi and Mohamed Majed

ANKARA (AA) - Palestinian prisoners released by the Israeli army after being detained in Gaza described the severe physical and psychological torture they experienced in prisons.

A group of prisoners who were detained and tortured by Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip and later released were brought to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in the city of Deir al-Balah in central Gaza by Palestinian Red Crescent Society teams.

The Palestinians, who showed signs of torture on various parts of their bodies and were exhausted, told Anadolu about the torture they endured.

Mahmoud Basim Mahmoud Ahmed, one of the released prisoners, said the Israeli army forced prisoners to lie face down, set dogs on them and administered electric shocks.

- Hunger strikers forced to eat feces

"You had to keep your hands tied above your head from 4 a.m. to midnight. If you turned right or left, they would set the dogs on you,” Ahmed said.

"They brought two pieces of bread a day. After eating the bread, you had to lie on your stomach for 24 hours. If you went on a hunger strike, they forced you to eat feces," he said.

Ahmed said that some prisoners whom Israeli soldiers suspected of having connections with resistance fighters were taken to the 12th floor of the building for torture and then brought back down to the ground floor while being tortured.

"What we experienced there in 40-60 days felt like 12 years," he added.

- Forced to bark like dogs to use toilet

Said Abu Watfa, who was detained at the Kerem Abu Salem border crossing, said Israeli soldiers detained a group of young Palestinians at the border crossing for four hours, tied to a wall.

Watfa said the soldiers stripped the detained young Palestinians, administered electric shocks to their sensitive areas, broke their teeth and did not provide them with any medicine.

Watfa, who was subjected to various forms of psychological and physical torture during his detention, said: "At night, when we needed to go to the toilet, they would say 'bark.' We had to bark to go to the toilet. They forced me to bark, and similarly, they forced me to curse my government, my relatives, my sister and my wife."

- Detained with hands, feet shackled for 35 Days

Muin Muhammad Abdussatir Muhammad, who was detained in the Jabalia refugee camp and held in an Israeli prison for about four months, said: "We went through very tough days. They set dogs on us at night and tortured us a lot. We have never seen such torture.”

Marwan Mesad Shaar, a 20-year-old who was detained by Israeli soldiers while distributing aid and spent 31 days as a prisoner, said they experienced various types of torture such as electric shocks, beatings and humiliation.

Asked about the conditions in the Israeli prison, Shaar responded: "We weren't living."

Khalid Abulkerim, who was detained during a raid in the Shuja'iyya neighborhood in Gaza City and released after 35 days, said their hands and feet were always shackled during their imprisonment and that they experienced both physical and psychological torture.

*Writing by Alperen Aktas from Istanbul