Israeli military report reveals Gazans beaten to death after abduction
An inquiry conducted by the Israeli military says two Palestinian detainees, who were abducted from Gaza and transferred to the Sde Teiman detention facility in Israel, were subjected to physical assault and subsequently succumbed to their injuries.
The military disclosed that the fatalities occurred in March due to the physical assault of the two by Israeli soldiers following their abduction, the Israeli daily Haaretz reported on Tuesday.
The detainees were handcuffed and kidnapped from the Khan Yunis area in southern Gaza, and were en route to the Sde Teiman detention facility, dubbed “Israel’s Guantánamo Bay”. However, upon arrival, it was discovered that they had died.
The two Palestinians were illegally apprehended by the Israeli military on suspicion of their affiliation with the Palestinian resistance.
The soldiers’ assertions that the victims sustained injuries during transportation were refuted by the military, which presented evidence that contradicted their claims. Additionally, the military expressed concerns that the victims may have been physically assaulted in various parts of their bodies, with one individual suffering a head injury.
The investigation includes police questioning of multiple soldiers, but no arrests have been made so far.
According to Haaretz, apart from the two Palestinians who were killed while en route to the Sde Teman detention facility, there are speculation that two other Palestinians may have died after being abducted, as their health conditions deteriorated during their time in detention.
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Ever since Israel launched its ongoing genocide over Gaza Strip in October 2023, around 2,000 Gazans have been kidnapped by the Israeli forces and imprisoned at Sde Teiman, which is actually a military base, but has been doubling as a detention camp ever since the genocide commenced.
This base has been repurposed into a detention center that does not meet the necessary standards for detention and medical care.
Various Israeli employees who have blown the whistle and Palestinian detainees who have been released have come forward to report instances of systemic abuse and violations of human rights at the detention center, which includes both physical and psychological torture.
Earlier in May, three unidentified Israeli workers at the camp in an interview with CNN confirmed and elaborated on allegations of mistreatment and substandard living conditions previously disclosed by numerous detainees who were subsequently freed.
Meanwhile, in April, a letter penned by a physician at a makeshift hospital in Sde Teiman, which was acquired by Haaretz, said that the physician expressed concerns that “inmates are fed through straws, defecate in diapers and are held [in] constant restraints, which violate medical ethics and the law.”
The doctor claimed that lack of staff and insufficient medical attention resulted in complications and fatalities, describing amputations caused by handcuff injuries as a regular occurrence.
The Israeli military claimed on Tuesday that it has established a committee to examine the situation of Palestinian prisoners from Gaza.
“Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi decided to form an advisory committee to study the conditions of war detainees in military-controlled prisons,” the military said in a statement.
According to the statement, the committee is “tasked with studying the conditions of detainees in the Sde Teiman, Anatot, and Ofer camps” and will submit its recommendations within 21 days.
