Rights Body: Israeli Forces Humiliate Palestinian Prisoners in Front of Settlers
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – A Geneva-based human rights organization has revealed disturbing details of Israeli forces allowing settlers to witness the torture and humiliation of Palestinians abducted from the Gaza Strip amid the genocidal war.
Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor disclosed the information on Monday, citing harrowing testimonies from recently released Palestinians.
According to Euro-Med, the incidents occurred at the Zikim military base and the Negev prison, where groups of settlers were brought in to observe, film, and photograph prisoners enduring various forms of inhumane treatment.
Gazan abductees recounted instances of being forced to appear naked, beaten with metal batons and electric sticks, and subjected to scalding water.
"I was subjected to torture and abuse at all stages... Israeli troops brought settlers to watch our nude torture," said 43-year-old Gazan Omar Abu Mudallala, one of the released prisoners.
Upon bringing in the settlers, the Israeli forces would tell them that the prisoners were the same Palestinian fighters who staged Operation al-Aqsa Storm against the occupied territories on October 7, 2023, following which the Israeli regime launched its genocidal war on Gaza, the rights body said.
"The settlers were filming us on their mobile phones while we were subjected to beating, abuse, and torture. They were making fun of us," Abu Mudallala said.
"This happened five times while I was being held. The first time was in Barkasat Zikim, where we were blindfolded.... The other four incidents took place in the Negev detention facility, where successive Israeli groups were taken inside tents to witness our abuse and record the torture methods we were subjected to without allowing us to speak or interact with them. Since we were not wearing blindfolds at the time, I saw them all four times with my own eyes," he noted.
Euro-Med Monitor expressed shock at the Israeli army's narrative portraying the prisoners as fighters involved in previous operations, noting that their subsequent release contradicts this claim.
"...the subsequent release of the detainees serves as proof that this narrative is untrue and was intended as a means of exacting revenge on Palestinian civilians and attacking their dignity," it added.
The organization emphasized that most of those abducted from Gaza have been arbitrarily detained without charges or legal proceedings, constituting violations of international law.
"The Israeli army's torture and inhumane treatment of Palestinian prisoners... constitutes crimes against humanity," stated Euro-Med, condemning the staging of abuses as entertainment for settlers as well as the photographing of victims as war crimes.
