Prisoners being tortured in Israel, says Palestinian hospital director

The director of Gaza City’s Al Shifa hospital, who has been released after seven months in detention, has accused Israeli prison staff of psychological and physical abuse of Palestinian detainees.

At a press conference at Nasser hospital in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, on Monday, Dr Mohammed Abu Salmiya said: “Prisoners in Israeli jails endure different types of torture. The army treats them as if they were inanimate objects, and Israeli doctors physically assault [them].”

Abuse with batons and dogs occurred “almost daily”, Dr Abu Salmiya said. “Cells are broken into and prisoners are beaten,” he added.

He alleged that during a beating his finger was broken, and he received a gash on the head.

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Dr Abu Salmiya claimed prisoners were deprived of food and medicine. He said some lost 30kg in weight and some had limbs amputated due to medical neglect. He said: “Several inmates died in interrogation centres.”

He said there were no visits by international humanitarian organisations.

Dr Abu Salmiya was among dozens of Palestinians who were freed by Israel on Monday. Following their release, the men had medical check-ups in hospitals in Khan Younis and Deir al-Balah where relatives greeted them, and others arrived to ask about detained family members.

Dr Abu Salmiya’s charges have been repeated by many of the freed prisoners. They claimed conditions had deteriorated and abuses increased since the October 7th raid on southern Israel by Hamas. Since then the Israeli prison service has reported it has received more than 5,000 Palestinians arrested in Gaza and the West Bank.

The Palestinian Authority news agency Wafa reported on Tuesday that the Ramallah-based Palestinian Prisoners Society has claimed inmates are constantly humiliated, prevented from speaking to each other, and subjected to sexual violence and rape. An official with the West Bank prison monitor Addameer told Al-Jazeera at least 40 people had died in Israeli custody over the past eight months.

Freed along with 53 other prisoners, Dr Abu Salmiya was arrested in November when Israeli troops invaded, wrecked and cleared Al Shifa hospital of staff and patients. He was accused of allowing Hamas to use the hospital complex, Gaza’s largest and most advanced, as a major command centre for mounting attacks on Israeli forces.

Although Hamas fighters were found to have used basement rooms, evidence unearthed subsequently did not justify the claim that Al Shifa was harbouring Hamas commanders.

Dr Abu Salmiya said after interrogation by Israel’s domestic intelligence agency, Shin Bet, he was subjected to three trials, but no charges were laid.

Having authorised the release of the doctor and his fellow prisoners due to prison overcrowding, Shin Bet came under fire from Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu. He claimed he had not been informed of the releases and said freeing Dr Abu Salmiya was a “grave mistake and a moral failure” because he was responsible for overseeing the hospital where Israeli hostages were allegedly held and murdered.

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