Horrifying Tales Of Torture
Palestinians, taken hostage by invading Israeli soldiers in Ez-Zeytun neighbourhood in the eastern part of the besieged Gaza, recently shared harrowing accounts of torture by Israeli troops. Those detained during Israel’s October 27 (2023) ground invasion in the neighbourhood spoke to Anadolu Agency after their release, describing enduring threats, beatings, electric shocks and hanging for hours.
Talking to the media, Cihad Yasin (43) said that his detention was terrifying and brutal, adding that the Israeli Army imprisoned him for 11 days and he was tortured with electric shocks. According to Yasin, he was chained while Israeli troops blindfolded and transported him, along with other Palestinians, to unknown locations. Palestinians were kept bound without food for many days, he stressed, adding that the Israeli soldiers also sprayed unknown substances on them that attracted insects. “They left us naked outdoors in the cold,” Yasin told Anadolu.
Recent videos leaked by Israeli troops showed scores of stripped Palestinian men in Israeli military custody, with a London-based news outlet stating that one of its journalists was among those humiliated by the Israeli Armed Forces. In one clip, a group of blindfolded Palestinian men are seen sitting with their hands tied behind their backs as Israeli soldiers watch them. Yasin revealed that due to torture, including electric shocks, the detainees could not sleep, and were forced to sit on their knees until midnight. Palestinians were given food with mould and were also forced to ingest hallucination-inducing pills, he insisted. “I still suffer headaches and dizziness from beatings and pills. No news about my family in Gaza; worried about their safety,” added the Palestinian.
Mahmud el-Alul, another Palestinian who was released in the Ez-Zeytun neighbourhood, claimed that the Israeli soldiers gave them spoiled food. el-Alul said that the soldiers brought three pieces of spoiled bread for each detainee. “Despite having our hands and feet tied, they would place the bread in front of us. We could not eat it. During my week of detention, I refused to eat due to the spoiled food and remained hungry. The Israeli soldiers refused to untie our hands and feet when we needed to use the restroom,” he told the press. el-Alul further said that soldiers subjected him and others to severe beatings, apart from forcing them to sit on their knees with hands tied for six hours at the beginning of the detention. He recounted being marched to different areas in Israel for at least six hours, during which soldiers brutally beat those who could not recall their ID numbers and punished others who spoke among themselves by hanging them by their feet for hours.
Due to the attacks on the Ez-Zeytun neighbourhood, forcibly displaced Palestinian Hanan Avde told Anadolu that the Israeli Forces suddenly attacked their homes one early morning while residents were inside. “We thought our house would collapse on us. Later, women and children started screaming in fear. We heard Israeli soldiers instructing us to come out of the house one by one. Israeli soldiers did not allow us to take any bags or belongings with us,” stressed Avde, adding that the soldiers separated women and children from the men. In spite of the cold weather, the Israeli soldiers told men to remove their clothes, confiscated their IDs, phones and money, and then took them outside, said Avde. She further said that the Israeli soldiers did not spare even the children, including a 16-year-old, and threatened her with death when she tried to resist.
Avde revealed that the Israeli troops forced women and children to move to the southern besieged Gaza with white flags. Blindfolded, they were taken to the Al-Kuwait intersection near the checkpoint, where Israeli military vehicles and bulldozers were present. One of the soldiers at the checkpoint randomly selected women for torture while instructing others to leave the area quickly. The soldier left the women as late-night attack sounds echoed from everywhere, she told the press. Avde told reporters that her husband was released after the attack on the Ez-Zeytun neighbourhood. However, she still does not know the fate of her child. “My husband had some health issues before the attacks. His health deteriorated further due to the brutal torture during detention. He is currently hospitalised at Al Aqsa Martyrs Hospital,” she stated.
Israel’s war on besieged Gaza has killed over 21,500 Palestinians, around 1% of the total population, and wounded nearly 56,000. Thousands more bodies are feared to be buried in the ruins of neighbourhoods obliterated by Israel. On December 26 (2023), the Israeli authorities released the bodies of 80 Palestinians killed by the Israeli Army. They were detained during the Israeli ground invasion. Meanwhile, authorities in Gaza said the examination of those bodies revealed that their shapes changed significantly due to the theft of vital organs. “The bodies arrived inside a container, some intact, while others were in pieces, and some others had decomposed,” said Marwan Al Hams, the Director of Mohammed Yousef El Najar Hospital in Rafah City.
The TRT World, with inputs from other agencies, first published this article on December 30, 2023.
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