Israel holding 32 Gaza detainees past their sentences: Advocacy group
A Palestinian prisoners’ advocacy group has raised concerns about serious legal and humanitarian violations by Israel, stating that the regime is unlawfully detaining Palestinians who have already served their sentences and withholding the bodies of individuals who died under torture while in custody.
The Asra Media Office (AMO) stated on Monday that Israel continues to keep 32 individuals from Gaza behind bars despite their legal sentences having already expired. Some of these cases extend back months or even years.
The office emphasized that this practice represents arbitrary detention, breaches international law, and amounts to a war crime under the Fourth Geneva Convention.
According to the AMO, the detainees continue to be held without ever being presented to a judicial body, and their families are deprived of visitation rights or even basic updates about their health.
The group characterized the policy as a systematic form of collective punishment targeting the population of Gaza.
Article 132 of the Fourth Geneva Convention mandates the immediate release of detainees upon the completion of their sentences. However, Israel has been frequently criticized for failing to uphold the obligation.
The AMO called on international human rights organizations to document these incidents and urge Israel to promptly release the detainees.
It also urged Palestinian officials to intensify diplomatic and legal initiatives in international forums to highlight what it referred to as an escalating atrocity.
Israel holds full responsibility for ensuring the safety and lives of those detained without legal justification, the advocacy group pointed out.
Back in November, Israel released nearly 2,000 prisoners, including 1,700 from Gaza, under a ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement with the Hamas resistance movement.
Many of those released at the time were in poor health, sharing accounts of torture, starvation, and humiliation endured during their time inside Israeli prisons.
Over 10,000 Palestinians, including women and children, are currently held in Israeli prisons, where they face medical neglect and conditions that have resulted in the deaths of several detainees, as reported by both Palestinian and Israeli human rights groups.
Phase one of the Gaza ceasefire agreement involves the release of Israeli captives in return for Palestinian prisoners. Additionally, the plan outlines efforts to rebuild Gaza and establish a new governing structure that excludes Hamas.
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