Euro-Med Monitor documents 'shocking' crimes, torture against Palestinian prisoners

An independent Geneva-based human rights organization says the tragic and shocking health condition of the Palestinian prisoners recently freed under the multistage ceasefire agreement with Hamas shows the Tel Aviv regime’s “ongoing use of torture to terrorize and persecute” them.

The Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor said in a statement on Thursday that the traces of torture were evident on the prisoners’ frail bodies, reflecting the extent of the systematic crimes and inhumane treatment they endured, which exceeded all moral and legal boundaries.

“All evidence indicates that Israel continues to use torture as a weapon to intimidate and persecute prisoners and detainees and to break their will until the last moments of their detention,” the organization said.

The Switzerland-based group noted that its field team documented serious injuries among the prisoners and detainees, including amputations and severe swelling resulting from torture, in addition to extreme weakness and fatigue.

It added that the released prisoners revealed that they had been subjected to brutal beatings, abuse, and continuous threats right up to the last moments before their release, despite the lack of any specific charges against the majority of them.

The organization stressed that the brutal torture and deliberate medical neglect faced by prisoners and detainees have reached shocking levels that surpass all moral and legal limits.

It noted that Israel’s ongoing use of brutal torture and deliberate medical neglect against Palestinian prisoners and detainees proves its systematic intent to intimidate them and break their will.

The rights group emphasized that such actions constitute blatant war crimes and crimes against humanity, as reliable information has indicated the death of dozens of prisoners inside Israeli prisons and detention centers, while Israel continues to hide any data related to them.

Palestinian prisoners freed as Hamas releases bodies of Israeli captives

A number of Palestinian prisoners are freed by the Israeli regime as Hamas hands over the bodies of four Zionist captives to the International Committee of the Red Cross for transfer to the regime.

It called on all concerned countries and organizations to take immediate and decisive action to stop these systematic crimes, underlining the need to intensify human rights and media efforts to highlight the suffering of Palestinian prisoners and detainees, and to work towards holding the occupiers accountable and forcing them to end these ongoing violations.

Israeli authorities released 641 Palestinian prisoners in the “Flood of Freedom” deal early on Thursday, as part of the ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreements with Hamas, after delaying their release for almost a week.

The physical status of the released prisoners showed that they had been deprived of adequate food throughout their detention, with testimonies confirming that they received minimal amounts of food, while some were denied food and sleep as a form of harsh and deliberate punishment.

The incumbent Israeli administration is under considerable pressure to extend the ceasefire and secure the release of the remaining captives, while some officials within the far-right cabinet want to return to war.

Hamas said on Thursday it was ready to begin talks on the second phase and that the only way remaining captives in Gaza would be freed is through commitment to the ceasefire.

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