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Nearly 3,000 Gazans who worked in Israel before the Hamas attack were allowed to return to Gaza after spending several days in Israeli prisons.
Published on May 11, 2023 12:28 p.m
Reading time: 1 min
Ayman shows off his injured wrists after his incarceration in an Israeli prison. November 2023, Ramallah (West Bank). (GILLES GALLINARO / RADIOFRANCE)
This Palestinian, whom we will call Ayman, shows us his wrists, which bear signs of restraint. The skin is still bruised. On the day of the Hamas attack, he was in Rahat, an Arab city in southern Israel, just 30 kilometers from Gaza. Here he was housed with 70 workers from Gaza: “The owner of the building threw us out,” says Ayman. “He told us to find a solution because he couldn’t keep us. We surrendered to the Israeli police. Then.” The army came and put us on buses.
Israeli soldiers then locked them in four-square-meter rooms: “They tied our hands behind our backs with plastic straps, as well as our feet. They started beating us. After 12 hours people started screaming and complaining. It was very painful, the restraints were very tight. My blood stopped circulating.”
Testimonies that multiply
Ayman explains that he was detained for 15 days and then released on medical grounds because there was no treatment that could cure him. His hands began to necrotize. He was then taken to Ramallah Hospital.
There are other stories of abuse, as evidenced by testimonies collected by a Palestinian journalist at the Rafah crossing on Friday, November 4. A man also speaks to us: He spent 21 days in an Israeli prison before returning to Gaza. He says he was tortured and humiliated and even dogs lived in better conditions. Soldiers stripped him naked and beat him. “We’re just poor employees,” he adds.
The Israeli army spokesman contacted assured that such behavior, if proven, would not be in accordance with the army’s orders.
Gaza residents’ statements about ill-treatment by the Israeli army – report by Valérie Crova and Gilles Gallinaro
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