The tragic genocide that has befallen Gaza as well as the insurmountable death toll of over 20,000 Palestinians sparked major uproar around the world. It also led the world to begin paying attention to one of the many horrible circumstances that Palestinians continue to face to this day which is their detainment and maltreatment in Israeli prisons.
One institution in particular, a non-profit organization for the protection of human rights called Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor made an appeal to form an international delegation for the sole purpose of visiting Israeli prisons where more than 8000 Palestinians are currently detained. This makes sense knowing the amount of evidence of widespread violations including mass arrests, forced disappearances, torture, ill-treatment and even killings.
In a lengthy letter written up by the Monitor, they detailed the horrific conditions faced by Palestinian detainees. One of the major issues of Israeli prisons is how the detainees face continuous systematic abuse that includes getting stripped of their clothes, handcuffed, blindfolded, severely beaten, harassed, sexually assaulted as well as deprived of food, water and proper hygiene.
Beyond the abuse, the conditions were so severe to the point that there were even killings. The letter went on to discuss how there are confirmed reports by the Haaretz Hebrew newspaper concerning Israeli field executions against Gaza’s detainees. Along with that, some of the detainees ended up dying after being subjected to extreme torture in the “Sde Teman” army camp.
Knowing of all these conditions faced by Palestinian detainees, the Monitor made sure to end their letter by urging international entities to abide by international human rights obligations by requesting for them to come for themselves and visit the Israeli prisons to see their conditions and to assess whether or not they are in accordance with international law.