The Palestinian resistance group Hamas on Friday denounced the mistreatment of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.
Hamas said In a statement, “The escalation of the Zionist prison administration's aggressive and criminal policies against our brave prisoners will not weaken their resolve.”
“The Palestinian people will not let their prisoners fall victim to the barbarism of this Nazi occupation," said Hamas.
The statement highlighted "testimonies documenting the abuse and torture that the prisoner, Commander Ibrahim Hamed, and his fellow prisoners are subjected to, in addition to the isolation and oppression affecting prisoner movement leaders, which led to the killing of a number of prisoners."
Hamas noted that such Israeli actions "reflect the occupation government's systematic strategy of targeting our courageous prisoners, driven by motives of punishment, vengeance, torture, and murder."
On Thursday, the Prisoners and Ex-Prisoners Affairs Authority and the Palestinian Prisoner Society in a joint statement conveyed the testimony of a recently released prisoner from Gilboa prison who recounted the "horrific torture and mistreatment inflicted upon prisoner Hamed."
As a result, at least 18 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails were killed, the statement added.
Hamas urged international organizations and human rights bodies to "fulfil their obligations concerning the gradual deterioration prisoners endure within occupation detention facilities, and the violations of various international agreements and standards, notably those outlined in the Geneva Convention pertaining to prisoners of war."
Israel has pounded the Gaza Strip in retaliation for a Hamas-led attack in October 2023, which killed less than 1,200 people.
More than 34,900 Palestinians have since been killed in Gaza, the vast majority of whom have been women and children. Over 78,500 others have been injured, according to Palestinian health authorities. Thousands remain missing.
Seven months into the Israeli war, vast swathes of Gaza lay in ruins, pushing 85% of the enclave's population into internal displacement amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine, according to the UN. Most of the displaced have sought refuge in Rafah following earlier Israeli evacuation orders.
Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January said it is "plausible" that Tel Aviv is committing genocide in the coastal enclave, and ordered Tel Aviv to stop such acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians.
